How does visible light communications (VLC) work? Credit: pureLiFi
Will solar-powered wireless communication benefit millions in the years to come? That is the hope of enthusiasts seeing a future in Li-Fi, wireless technology which is wireless—only not as we know it. Li-Fi, coined by University of Edinburgh’s Professor Harald Haas, is a wireless technology which refers to visible light communications (VLC) technology delivering a high-speed, bidirectional networked, mobile communications in a similar manner as Wi-Fi.
How does visible light communications (VLC) work? Credit: pureLiFi
Li-Fi technology can be integrated with solar cells to receive data. Solar panels on houses or smart watches can absorb power and receive data at the same time. “With this technology, so-called smart watches could be powered and connected to the Internet through light.”
Haas is now chief scientific officer at pureLiFi, recognized as leaders in Li-Fi technology Haas first demonstrated Li-Fi technology 2011. The company was a spinout from the University of Edinburgh and described as one of the global pioneers using the visible light spectrum rather than radio frequencies for wireless data communication.
This approach translates into higher efficiency and safer communication in risky environments such as in chemical plants. Li-Fi can use LEDs to transmit data incredibly fast, securely. It could be of beneficial impact populations in rural communities with no infrastructures for electric power, the Internet and Wi-Fi access.
Brandon Hill said: “In its current iteration, Li-Fi uses LED lights, which flicker at a rate that is imperceptible to the human eye, to transmit data.”
This super-fast alternative to Wi-Fi has proven capable of sending data at up to 1GBps in real-world tests eg pilot scheme by the startup Velmenni. This is >100X faster than current Wi-Fi technologies. At these speeds, a high-def film could be downloaded in just a few seconds.
Deepak Solanki, CEO of Velmenni said “Currently we have designed a smart lighting solution for an industrial environment where the data communication is done through light. We are also doing a pilot project with a private client where we are setting up a Li-Fi network to access the internet in their office space.” PureLiFi and Lucibel, a French company focused on lighting solutions based on LED tech, are to co-develop and market “Europe’s first, fully industrialized LiFi luminaire.”
http://techxplore.com/news/2015-11-haas-purelifi-brighter-future.html
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