Light is powerful. It defines our world and the way we experience it, and people have been working to harness and control light for millennia. Now, thanks to the development of LiFi — a visible light communications (VLC) technology — we can use light to do so much more.
LiFi is a wireless communications technology that uses visible light to transmit data in real-time. It’s up to 100 times faster than standard WiFi. While it’s yet to reach broad use in the market, LiFi has the potential to hugely impact technology and software development, especially for IoT solutions, across sectors.
How Does LiFi Work?
LiFi is like WiFi — except instead of using a router to transmit data, you’re using an LED light bulb to send messages over the visible light spectrum.
Because it runs on light waves from common household LED bulbs, LiFi technology operates the way light does. Visible light has a much wider bandwidth than WiFi, meaning that LiFi-enabled devices can send and receive huge volumes at extremely high speeds — up to 224 gigabits per second.
However, the light can’t travel through walls because the light waves are too small. Additionally, to send and receive light signals, your light source must be active for the technology to work. So if you’re running your smart home on LiFi alone, you’d need to have LED bulbs throughout your house.
Yet by the same token, LiFi offers more security than WiFi because of the opportunity to introduce physical barriers. You can contain light within a space, so you can protect the messages you’re sending and receiving from outside parties.
LiFi signals are also immune to the electromagnetic interference that can plague radio frequency-sensitive areas. If you turn on your microwave or cordless phone near a LiFi signal, likewise, you won’t disrupt an important transmission.
LiFi and IoT development
LiFi is particularly exciting when we talk about the future of IoT, adding more considerations to the “WiFi vs Bluetooth” and “WiFi vs Cellular” debates for IoT products.
IoT devices rely heavily on connectivity. It’s the “Internet” part of the “Internet of Things.” LiFi promises high connectivity while using less power, reducing costs and complexity when developing software and hardware.
When you think about the other part of IoT — the “Things” that can now be connected via LiFi— lots of possibilities open up. Across industries, lights can connect with IoT wireless sensors to send data and remotely control devices.
In addition to some of the LiFi-enabled IoT applications mentioned above, more examples specific to IoT include:
- Connected cars with LED-based lights communicate important information with each other and prevent accidents.
- Using smart LED street lights to send information about road conditions to connected cars
- Guiding museum visitors through a seamless interactive experience
- Creating an indoor navigation system for people with visual impairments
- Powering smart power plants and smart factories