Li-Fi-A Light Leading to Faster Technology

Light Fidelity (Li-Fi) is a bidirectional, high speed and fully networked wireless communication technology similar to Wi-Fi. The term was coined by Harald Haas and is a form of visible light communication and a subset of optical wireless communications (OWC) and could be a complement to RF communication (Wi-Fi or Cellular network), or even a replacement in contexts of data broadcasting. It is so far measured to be about 100 times faster than some Wi-Fi implementations, reaching speeds of 224 gigabits per second. Li-Fi provides better bandwidth, efficiency, availability and security than Wi-Fi and has already achieved blisteringly high speed in the lab. By leveraging the low-cost nature of LEDs and lighting units there are many opportunities to exploit this medium, from public internet access through street lamps to auto-piloted cars that communicate through their headlights. Haas envisions a future where data for laptops, smart phones, and tablets will be transmitted through the light in a room. [1]