This OWC technology uses light from light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as a medium to deliver

networked, mobile, high-speed communication in a similar manner to Wi-Fi. The Li-Fi

market is projected to have acompound annual growth rate of 82% from 2013 to 2018 and to
be worth over $6 billion per year by 2018.
Visible light communications (VLC) works by switching the current to the LEDs off and on
at a very high rate, too quick to be noticed by the human eye. Although Li-Fi LEDs would
have to be kept on to transmit data, they could be dimmed to below human visibility while
still emitting enough light to carry data. The light waves cannot penetrate walls which makes
a much shorter range, though more secure from hacking, relative to Wi-Fi. Direct line of sight
is not necessary for Li-Fi to transmit a signal; light reflected off the walls can achieve
70 Mbit/s.
Li-Fi has the advantage of being useful in electromagnetic sensitive areas such as in aircraft
cabins, hospitals and nuclear power plants without causing electromagnetic interference. Both
Wi-Fi and Li-Fi transmit data over the electromagnetic spectrum, but whereas Wi-Fi utilizes
radio waves, Li-Fi uses visible light. While the US Federal Communications Commission has
warned of a potential spectrum crisis because Wi-Fi is close to full capacity, Li-Fi has almost
no limitations on capacity. The visible light spectrum is 10,000 times larger than the
entire radio frequency spectrum. Researchers have reached data rates of over 10 Gbit/s,
which is much faster than typical fast broadband in 2013. Li-Fi is expected to be ten times
cheaper than Wi-Fi. Short range, low reliability and high installation costs are the potential
downsides.
Pure LiFi demonstrated the first commercially available Li-Fi system, the Li-1st, at the
2014Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Bg-Fi is a Li-Fi system consisting of an application for a mobile device, and a simple
consumer product, like an IoT (Internet of Things) device, with color sensor, microcontroller,
and embedded software. Light from the mobile device display communicates to the color
sensor on the consumer product, which converts the light into digital information. Light
emitting diodes enable the consumer product to communicate synchronously with the mobile
device.

History
Harald Haas, who teaches at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, coined the term "Li-Fi"
at his TED Global Talk where he introduced the idea of "Wireless data from every light". He
is Chair of Mobile Communications at the University of Edinburgh and co-founder of pure
LiFi.
The general term visible light communication(VLC), whose history dates back to the 1880s,
includes any use of the visible light portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to transmit
information. The D-Light project at Edinburgh's Institute for Digital Communications was
funded from January 2010 to January 2012. Haas promoted this technology in his 2011 TED
Global talk and helped start a company to market it. PureLiFi, formerly pure VLC, is
an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) firm set up to commercialize Li-Fi products for
integration with existing LED-lighting systems.
In October 2011, companies and industry groups formed the Li-Fi Consortium, to promote
high-speed optical wireless systems and to overcome the limited amount of radio-based
wireless spectrum available by exploiting a completely different part of the electromagnetic
spectrum.
A number of companies offer uni-directional VLC products, which is not the same as Li-Fi a term defined by the IEEE 802.15.7r1 standardization committee.
VLC technology was exhibited in 2012 using Li-Fi. gust 2013, data rates of over 1.6 Gbit/s
were demonstrated over a single color LED. In September 2013, a press release said that LiFi, or VLC systems in general, do not require line-of-sight conditions. In October 2013, it
was reported Chinese manufacturers were working on Li-Fi development kits.
In April 2014, the Russian company Stins Coman announced the development of a Li-Fi
wireless local network called BeamCaster. Their current module transfers data at 1.25
gigabytes per second but they foresee boosting speeds up to 5 GB/second in the near
future. In 2014 a new record was established by Sisoft (a Mexican company) that was able to
transfer data at speeds of up to 10 Gbit/s across a light spectrum emitted by LED lamps.

Standards

Like Wi-Fi, Li-Fi is wireless and uses similar 802.11 protocols; but it uses visible light
communication (instead of radio frequency waves), which has much wider bandwidth.
One part of VLC is modeled after communication protocols established by theIEEE 802
workgroup. However, the IEEE 802.15.7 standard is out-of-date, it fails to consider the latest
technological developments in the field of optical wireless communications, specifically with
the introduction of optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (O-OFDM)
modulation methods which have been optimized for data rates, multiple-access and energy
efficiency. The introduction of O-OFDM means that a new drive for standardization of
optical wireless communications is required.
Nonetheless, the IEEE 802.15.7 standard defines the physical layer (PHY) and media access
control (MAC) layer. The standard is able to deliver enough data rates to transmit audio,
video and multimedia services. It takes into account optical transmission mobility, its
compatibility with artificial lighting present in infrastructures, and the interference which
may be generated by ambient lighting. The MAC layer permits using the link with the other
layers as with the TCP/IPprotocol.[citation needed]
The standard defines three PHY layers with different rates:

The PHY I was established for outdoor application and works from 11.67 kbit/s to
267.6 kbit/s.

The PHY II layer permits reaching data rates from 1.25 Mbit/s to 96 Mbit/s.

The PHY III is used for many emissions sources with a particular modulation method
called color shift keying (CSK). PHY III can deliver rates from 12 Mbit/s to 96 Mbit/s.
The modulation formats recognized for PHY I and PHY II are on-off keying (OOK) and
variable pulse position modulation (VPPM). The Manchester coding used for the PHY I and
PHY II layers includes the clock inside the transmitted data by representing a logic 0 with an
OOK symbol "01" and a logic 1 with an OOK symbol "10", all with a DC component. The
DC component avoids light extinction in case of an extended run of logic 0's.[citation needed]

The first VLC smartphone prototype was presented at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las
Vegas from January 710 in 2014. The phone uses Sun Partner's Wysips CONNECT, a
technique that converts light waves into usable energy, making the phone capable of
receiving and decoding signals without drawing on its battery. A clear thin layer of crystal
glass can be added to small screens like watches and smartphones that make them solar
powered. Smartphones could gain 15% more battery life during a typical day. This first
smartphones using this technology should arrive in 2015. This screen can also receive VLC
signals as well as the smartphone camera. The cost of these screens per smartphone is
between $2 and $3, much cheaper than most new technology.
Philips lighting company has developed a VLC system for shoppers at stores. They have to
download an app on their smartphone and then their smartphone works with the LEDs in the
store. The LEDs can pinpoint where they are located in the store and give them
corresponding coupons and information based on which aisle they are on and what they are
looking at.

Lifi vs WiFi

While some may think that Li-Fi with its 224 gigabits per second leaves Wi-Fi in the dust, LiFi's exclusive use of visible light could halt a mass uptake.
Li-Fi signals cannot pass through walls, so in order to enjoy full connectivity, capable
LED bulbs will need to be placed throughout the home. Not to mention, Li-Fi requires the
lightbulb is on at all times to provide connectivity, meaning that the lights will need to be on
during the day.
What's more, where there is a lack of lightbulbs, there is a lack of Li-Fi internet so Li-Fi does
take a hit when it comes to public Wi-Fi networks.
In an announcement yesterday, an extension of standard Wi-Fi is coming and it's called Wi-Fi
HaLow.
This new project claims to double the range of connectivity while using less power. Due to
this, Wi-Fi HaLow is reportedly perfect for battery powered devices such as smartwatches,
smartphones and lends itself to Internet of Things devices such as sensors and smart
applications.

But it's not all doom and gloom! Due to its impressive speeds, Li-Fi could make a huge
impact on the internet of things too, with data transferred at much higher levels with even
more devices able to connect to one another.
What's more, due to its shorter range, Li-Fi is more secure than Wi-Fi and it's reported that
embedded light beams reflected off a surface could still achieve 70 megabits per second.

The future of Li-Fi

In November last year, Li-Fi pioneers pureLiFi joined forces with French lighting company
Lucibel aiming to bring out Li-Fi enables products, later this year.
pureLiFi already have two products on the market: Li-Flame Ceiling Unit to connect to an
LED light fixture and Li-Flame Desktop Unit which connects to a device via USB, both
aiming to provide light and connectivity in one device.
Plus, with faster connectivity and data transmission its an interesting space for businesses.
The integration of internet of things devices and Li-Fi will provide a wealth of opportunities
for retailers and other businesses alike. For example, shop owners could transmit data to
multiple customers' phones quickly, securely and remotely.
What's more, reports suggest that Apple may build future iPhones with Li-Fi capabilities. A
Twitter user found that within its iOS 9.1 code there were references to Li-Fi written as 'LiFi
Capability' hinting that Apple may integrate Li-fi with iPhones in the future.
Whether or not Li-Fi will live up to its hype is yet to be decided.
How it works
Li-Fi and Wi-Fi are quite similar as both transmit data electromagnetically. However, Wi-Fi
uses radio waves while Li-Fi runs on visible light.
As we now know, Li-Fi is a Visible Light Communications (VLC) system. This means that it
accommodates a photo-detector to receive light signals and a signal processing element to
convert the data into 'stream-able' content.
An LED lightbulb is a semi-conductor light source meaning that the constant current of
electricity supplied to an LED lightbulb can be dipped and dimmed, up and down at
extremely high speeds, without being visible to the human eye.
For example, data is fed into an LED light bulb (with signal processing technology), it then
sends data (embedded in its beam) at rapid speeds to the photo-detector (photodiode).
The tiny changes in the rapid dimming of LED bulbs is then converted by the 'receiver' into
electrical signal.

The signal is then converted back into a binary data stream that we would recognise as web,
video and audio applications that run on internet enables devices.

Li-Fi can compensate as the radio spectrum

becomes overloaded

Using the visible light spectrum, Li-Fi technology can transmit data and unlock
capacity which is 10,000 times greater than that available within the radio spectrum.
The visible light spectrum is plentiful, free and unlicensed, mitigating the radio
frequency spectrum crunch effect.

The future internet

Li-Fi technology will in future enable faster, more reliable internet connections, even
when the demand for data usage has outgrown the available supply from existing
technologies such as 4G, LTE and Wi-Fi. It will not replace these technologies, but
will work seamlessly alongside them.
Using light to deliver wireless internet will also allow connectivity in environments
that do not currently readily support Wi-Fi, such as aircraft cabins, hospitals and
hazardous environments.
Light is already used for data transmission in fibre-optic cables and for point to point
links, but Li-Fi is a special and novel combination of technologies that allow it to be
universally adopted for mobile ultra high speed internet communications.

A dual use for LED lighting

The wide use of solid state lighting offers an opportunity for efficient dual use lighting
and communication systems.

Innovation in LED and photon receiver technology has ensured the availability of
suitable light transmitters and detectors, while advances in the modulation of
communication signals for these types of components has been advanced through
signal processing techniques, such as multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO), to
become as sophisticated as those used in mobile telecommunications.

An integrated communication solution

Li-Fi technology is being developed into a ubiquitous systems technology, consisting
of application specific combinations of light transmitters, light receivers including
solar cells, efficient computational algorithms and networking capabilities that can be
deployed in a wide range of communication scenarios and in a variety of device
platforms

Lifi 5g
Picture this-you wake up and tap your smartphone to switch on your coffee machine. As you
make breakfast, your refrigerator sends you a text that youre out of orange juice. Clued in
with this message, your cars GPS routes you to the grocery shop on your way back from
work, as you use your phone to switch on your home heating system, so things are toasty
warm when you get back. At the forefront of this connectivity phenomenon popularly known
as the 'Internet of Things', is an optical communication technology thats taking the world by
storm. Light Fidelity or Li-Fi, is an exciting breakthrough in 5G visual light communication
systems and the future of wireless Internet access.
With Li-Fi, information hitches a ride along a spectrum of visible light. Light-emitting diode
(LED) bulbs, transmit data when they are switched on and off so rapidly in nanoseconds, that
the human eye cannot see it. This data is registered by special equipment, making it possible
to provide wireless Internet connectivity at a current experimental speed up to 10 Gbps,
which is estimated to be 250 times faster than 'superfast' broadband. The vast availability of
LED light bulbs will drive the future ubiquity of connectivity even in places where Wi-Fi
fails-on an airplane and in submarines, for example.
Another advantage of Li-Fi is zero electromagnetic interference, allowing connectivity even
in areas where Wi-Fi isnt accepted - hospitals and nuclear plants among others. In addition,
Li-Fi offers better data defense as light waves cant pass through walls, making it impossible
to hack any internal systems in high-security buildings.
As radio waves used by Wi-Fi get more congested and the demand for faster and more
efficient wireless communication escalates, the future is bright for Li-Fi as a reliable,
affordable and more secure solution.

Harold Haas from the University of Edinburgh, who first demonstrated Li-Fi to the world,
envisioned turning light bulbs into super-speed broadband wireless Internet systems. As Li-Fi
becomes more commercialized, it will usher in an era of incredible business opportunities,
such as allowing telecom service providers to reach out to a wider customer base. We can
look forward to broader accessibility with Li-Fi Cloud. Smartphones will soon be able to
download traffic information from traffic lights or a program guide from a television. This is
the tip of the iceberg. In the future, shops will transmit advertisements to your phone as you
pass by and bus schedule changes will be transmitted to a screen at the stop. Smarter home
appliances that talk machine-to-machine (M2M) are already being extensively researched,
where LED lights on electronics function as Li-Fi access points. In fact, the Li-Fi industry is
set to become a $6 billion industry by 2018.How else do you think that Li-Fi will
revolutionize the way we connect with man and machines? Leave your comments in the
section below.