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TechWaTch
LiFi Ready for its Moment in the Spotlight
By Jeff Elliott T
he promise of LiFi (light fideli- ty), which uses the same LED lights that illuminate a work
space to transmit secure, high-speed, wireless data at rates that can go well beyond those possible with Wi- Fi, has now advanced to the point of introducing a new form of main- stream implementation. This new development results
from the introduction of the first LED “light bar” fixtures equipped with the required transmission tech- nology and designed to replace the most ubiquitous form of lighting in commercial and industrial facilities: fluorescent tubes. With an estimated three to four
billion fluorescent tubes installed globally, the integration of built-in LiFi transmission technology in new and retrofit LED light bars is now moving LiFi beyond the pilot stage to full-scale implementation in offices, schools, warehouses, and other facil- ities.
What is LiFi? LiFi is a high-speed, secure, ful-
ly-networked wireless communica- tion technology similar to Wi-Fi. However, LiFi makes use of the en- tire light spectrum where Wi-Fi uses radio frequencies (RF). To do this, the LED light fix-
tures used in many energy-conscious homes and offices are outfitted with a module that controls the light for optical data transmission. The high speed light pulses are invisible to the naked eye, yet can be used to trans- mit data at extremely high speeds to a receiving device located in a laptop, computer tower, cellphone, or other smart device. In the future, LiFi will be em-
bedded into the mobile devices we use every day, as well as play a key role in machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and the Internet of Things (IoT). The utilization of visible light provides a host of intriguing benefits
that far outpace what is currently possible with the radio frequency waves used by Wi-Fi and cellular networks. When compared with the over-
loaded full RF spectrum, the light spectrum is 1,000 times larger and is currently unregulated, with no li- censing fees. In lab conditions, the technology is already capable of 10 Gb/s speeds, and with the available bandwidth potential, data transmis- sion speeds up to 100 times faster will be possible in the near future.
LED Manufacturers Advance LiFi Technology
According to Harald Haas, co-
founder and chief science officer of pureLiFi, a company that is spear- heading the development of the tech- nology, the implementation of the technology into lighting fixtures has necessitated a close partnership with LED light manufacturers. “The lighting manufacturers
are critical to moving LiFi forward,” says Haas. “They know how to design lights and fixtures, and we know what needs to be done to create high- speed data networks out of light.” Until recently, most of these fix-
Printed Circuit Boards from Prototype to Production
tures were small lamps or recessed can lights. Now, one of pureLiFi’s partners, Linmore LED, is introduc- ing the first LiFi-enabled LED light bars designed to replace fluorescent tube lighting. Linmore LED is currently dem -
on strating a complete, functional LiFi system at its facility in Fresno, Cali- fornia. With this technology, upload and download data speeds of 43 Mb/s have been recorded. According to Paul Chamberlain,
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CEO of Linmore LED, the partner- ship with pureLiFi was a good fit, due to the modular nature of the company’s LED light bars. The prod- uct’s design allowed for the integra- tion of the LiFi modules in the ideal position on the light bar, without af- fecting critical aspects, such as light- ing distribution, thermal dissipation and overall performance. Retrofit fixtures, even those
that are not LiFi-enabled, are in great demand, as many facilities seek to drive down energy costs by as much as 70 to 80 percent by convert- ing to LED technology. This trend is also being driven by the increased operating life of LEDs and concerns about the toxic mercury within fluo- rescent lamps that complicates dis- posal.
Security Benefits Among the expected early
adopters of the technology are those that seek greater security of data transmission than is possible with
Wi-Fi. Initial markets expected to adopt LiFi technology include federal government and defense, banking, fi- nancial institutions, and hospitals. LiFi is a far more secure form of
data transmission than Wi-Fi, be- cause a receiving device must be di- rectly within the cone of light to re- ceive a broadcasted signal. Visible light, including near-infrared wave- lengths, cannot penetrate opaque ob- jects like walls, which means that the wireless signal is constrained to within a strictly-defined area of illu-
LiFi is a high-speed, secure, fully-networked wireless communication technology similar to Wi-Fi. However, LiFi makes use of the entire light spectrum whereas Wi-Fi uses (the much narrower) radio frequency (RF) band.
mination. Wi-Fi, on the other hand, uti-
lizes radio waves that are widely broadcast, even outside a building, where it can be easily intercepted for malicious purposes. In a “man-in-the-middle” at-
tack, the attacker must be able to in- tercept all relevant messages passing between the two victims and inject new ones. This is straightforward in many circumstances. For example, an attacker within reception range of an unencrypted wireless access point (Wi-Fi) can insert himself as a man in the middle. File access is permitted only if a
device is connected to the LiFi net- work. Once a user connects to the Li- Fi network, they can download and modify certain files. It is also impossi- ble for a nearby employee to intercept information sent to the server/net- work by another employee, since the uplink communication is on a differ- ent frequency than the downlink. Every device that can connect to
the network can be tracked using the technology. The same LiFi module en- ables “communication on the move” by tracking the transmission source electronically, with no moving parts. Now that one of the final barri-
ers to full-scale implementation has been overcome with the introduction of LiFi enabled LED light bars, the technology is expected to continue to advance under an “aggressive strate- gy of miniaturization and lower
costs,” says Haas. Contact: pureLiFi, 9 Haymarket
Terrace, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, EH12 5EZ % +44-0-131-516-1816 Web:
www.purelifi.com r
February, 2018
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