Li-Fi - Information at the Speed of Light

Think of a situation where you wanted to download and listen to music without the help of the Internet or Wi-Fi. Is it even possible to think about a life without them? Yes, with the possibility of a new technology, Li-Fi that uses Visible Light like a street lamp to listen to downloaded playlist of many singers. Isn't this a great idea? Let's dive more into this blog to find out more about this new emerging technology that offers wide scope into the possibilty of the above idea

What is Li-Fi?

Li-Fi is a wireless system that stands for Light Fidelity and uses visible light to transmit information instead of the radio waves. With frequency of over 200,000 GHz and is 100 times more faster than the traditional Wi-Fi

Now, a question may arise as to why we need to use Li-Fi over Wi-Fi. These are the possible features of the former that differentiates it from the traditional Wi-Fi

Faster as they have frequency of 200,000 GHz and current speed oscillates between 10 Gbit/s and can reach as high as 224 Gbit/s

More accessible due to the fact that any source of light can help in this technology

More reliable as the signals can be transmitted without any interruption

It does not interfere with the radio signals

It is more secure as it offers privacy and is this more secure mode of transfering the data

Components of Li-Fi

A simple or basic Li-Fi system have the following components:

A White LED that acts as a transmission source

A Photodiode that can detect the visible light that acts as receiver

How does Li-Fi work?

The LED lights that are used can be changed from high to low voltages at high speed and has signal-processing technology. The visible light radiation that detects the changes in the amplitude is then converted to the electrical signal by the receiver. This is then converted back into a data by the receiving element namely the computer or the mobile device using it

Application of Li-Fi

Underwater Communication

We know that the radio waves are easily absorbed by water thus preventing the radio communications beneath the surface. But light can penetrate to longer distances without any interruptions. Hence, LiFi enabled system is the preferred technology for easy communication

Augmented Reality

It is mainly used in the galleries or exhibits in the museums where Li-Fi enabled lightning provides the and are illuminated with specific lighting. Li-Fi enabled lighting that can provide the various information about a particular item when the visitor downloads the information regrding it which can be viewed from the light illuminating the museum exhibit

Cellular communication

Street lamps enabled with LiFi provides the network containing access points. Thus, they can provide both the high speed communication and transmission of data in the night and illumination. Thus, this is cost beneficial as two purposes are being served with the use of Li-Fi enabled technology

Security

As Li-Fi has a shorter range of 32 meters than Wi-Fi system and this makes the former more safer and secure. The reason is thus attributed to the direct relation of the range and the less probabillity of the interrutption of data and thus promotes security of the system. This can be used in industries favouring the large handling of data like the confidential government cesnus of the people, healthcare etc

Conclusion

Thus, the future is moving towards the newer technology with the the scientists predictng the need for Li-Fi, that can address the problem of ever-growing demand of Wi-Fi and satisfying needs of the users in a positive way wherein they need not wait for a stable internet connecion anymore but thus rely on the light source available. Thus, there is a possibilty of it being harnessed in the future with the demands and comfort of the people being the primary need

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