tiny variation in the rapid dimming of LED bulbs is then converted

acknowledged as the fastest medium. This fastest medium

by the ' receiver ' into electrical signals.

is about to provide us an internet network that would give data speed of 224 gigabits per second. Yes, we are talking about

Li-Fi.

The signal is then converted back into a binary data stream that is recognized by the electronic devices as web, video and audio inputs, running on internet devices.

Light Fidelity or Li-Fi is a Visible Light Communications( VLC) system that runs wireless communications travelling at very high speeds. As our hunger for faster data is ever swelling, imagine a technology which allows one to download data at 200 + gigabits per second speed.

The visible light communication( VLC) technology theory dates back to the 1880s, is about any utilisation of visible light portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to transmit information. It functions on visible light between 400 and 800 terahertz( THz).

Similar to an incredibly advanced form of Morse code- where

Li-Fi is a bi-directional, high-speed and fully networked wireless

switching a torch on and off in a certain pattern can relay a secret

communication technology that is similar to Wi-Fi. It is a form of

message, flicking a LED on and off at extreme speeds can be used

visible light communication( VLC) and a division of optical wireless

to write and transmit things in binary code.

communications( OWC) that could be a complement or even a replacement to RF communication in Wi-Fi or cellular networks in contexts of data broadcasting.

Like Wi-Fi, Li-Fi also transmits data electromagnetically. Wi-Fi requires radio waves while Li-Fi runs on visible light. The technology just requires the simple household LED( light emitting diodes) bulbs with a detector, to enable data transfer.

It contains a photo-detector for receiving light signals and a signal processing element then converts the data into ' stream-able ' content.

How did it begin?

The Li-Fi technology has been discovered by Professor Harald

Haas, Chairman of Mobile Communications in University of

Edinburgh, who coined the term Li-Fi during a TED Talk show, in

Scotland, in 2011.

Harald disclosed his vision of " Wireless data from every light”, i. e. by flickering light from a single LED, far more data could be transmitted than from a cellular tower. This means that LED light bulbs will then be turned into super-speed broadband wireless

Internet systems

How does it work?

After four years of research, in 2012, Haas co-founded the

The LED light bulb is a semiconductor light source, so it means

company‘ pureLiFi’ with the aim ' to be the world leader in Visible

that the constant current of electricity supplied to a LED light bulb

Light Communications technology '.‘ pureLiFi’, formerly‘ pureVLC’,

manipulated up and down at extremely high speeds. This is

is an original equipment manufacturer( OEM) firm set up to

processed at such a speed that human eye cannot detect the

commercialise Li-Fi products for integration with existing LEDdifference

.

lighting systems.

The data is supplied into the LED light bulb, enabled with signal

Usage & Applications

processing technology, which then sends the embedded data in its beam at swift speed to the photodetector or photodiode. This

The trial phase of Li-Fi has already been initiated in offices and industrial environments. After the application of Li-Fi in Tallinn,