LiFi - future of WiFi | What is LiFi technology and how does it work?

Li-Fi stands for Light Fidelity – It is Wireless Communication technology, which uses light as a path
to transmit data and position between devices. The concept was first introduced by German Scientist
Harald Haas during 2011 TEDx Global talk in Edinburgh. It uses your bulb as a router to enable Data
Transfer at boosting speed up to 224 gigabits per second. Only LED bulbs can be used as a router. As
the Light speed is superior hence the data communication speed is also faster.

How does Li-Fi work?

As we know Li-Fi is a Visible Light Communication (VLC) System. This means it has a photo
detector to receive light signals and a signal processing element to convert the data into streamable
content.
Li-Fi and Wi-Fi are quite similar to both transmit data electromagnetically. However, Wi-Fi uses
radio waves, while Li-Fi uses Visible light Range (only LED bulbs in visible light).
As the bandwidth of visible light wave can be increased and not of radio wave, hence Li-Fi can
transfer data at the speed up to 224 gigabits per second much more than Wi-Fi.
The data is fed into an LED, it then sends data at rapid speeds to the photodetector. The tiny charges
in the rapid dimming of LED bulbs is then converted electrical signals. The signal is then converted
back into binary data that we can recognize by watching or listening. 

Experiment proving Li-Fi

Differences between LI-Fi and Wi-Fi

1. The Data Density is low for Wi-Fi and high for Li-Fi.
2. Bandwidth Expansion of Wi-Fi is limited and exceptional for Li-Fi.
3. The speed of Wi-Fi is less than 200 Mbps and competitively Li-Fi has greater than 12 Gbps.
4. The Range of connectivity is less for Li-Fi than Wi-Fi.
5. In Security purpose Li-Fi is exceptional.
6. The network topologies of Li-Fi and Wi-Fi technologies are point to point.
7. The ecology impact of Wi-Fi is medium and low for Li-Fi.
8. The power availability of Wi-Fi is low and high for Li-Fi.

Advantages of Li-Fi

1. Security Purpose – As Light can not travel through the wall, therefore any unwanted person can
    not connect to the network.
2. As speed is light is very fast therefore the speed of data transfer is also very fast.
3. Li-Fi utilizes light waves that are harmless, unlike radio waves.

Disadvantages of Li-Fi

1. The main problem is that how will receiver send the data back to the transmitter.
2. It requires LOS (line of sight), as well as the receiver, would not be a move in inside.
3. It doesn’t work in dim areas.

Applications of Li-Fi

1. Home and Office Automation.
2. Medical Application.
3. Street Lights – for traffic management and road safety
4. Underwater Communication
5. Aviation
6. Classrooms and Lecture rooms for interactive study
7. Transportation
8. Elegant Lighting
9. In Sensitive Regions

Presently, many companies like Phillips are investigating on Li-Fi to make it more practically useful.
The first-ever company was started by Harald Haas (Li-Fi inventor) named Purelifi, which only
research on Li-Fi to make it more practically useful.