It’s impossible to avoid Wi-Fi in today’s world.

It’s everywhere; your

neighbours have it, it’s free in coffee shops, and is essential for your
smartphones. We all know Wi-Fi, but what is LiFi?
LiFi is a new kind of wireless connection that uses light sources instead of
microwaves to transmit data. With LiFi, your light bulb is essentially your
router. It uses common household LED light bulbs to enable data transfer in a
fast, safe and secure manner.
LiFi was introduced first time by Prof. Harald Haas on July 2011 at TED Global
Talk. LiFi is based on Visual Light Communication (VLC) that uses light emitting
diodes (LEDs). LiFi enables the electronic device to connect to the internet with
no wire. In order to make a communication line between node, a LiFi will need
a transceiver to transmit and receive the data. This transceiver will use a
modulation technique to carry the data using the light.

Advantages
 Speed: Li-Fi is a great improvement compared to Wi-Fi at many levels. The
transmission speed is up to 100 times faster.
 Easy to deploy: Li-Fi network can be integrated easily with existing LED
lighting systems. Simply put, wherever there is a light source, there can be
 access to the Internet. It is also worth mentioning that LED lamps are very
inexpensive to produce and their market price is relatively affordable.
Analysts predict that Li-Fi deployment would be ten times cheaper than Wi-
Fi.
 Immune from Electromagnetic Interferences: Li-Fi also has an advantage of
being immune from electromagnetic interferences that affect radio-based
wireless communication technologies. The technology is also useful in areas
that are electromagnetic sensitive such as aircraft cabins, hospitals, and
nuclear power plants.
 Security: Li-Fi signals are incredibly focused and must land directly on the
receiver to be intercepted — because Li-Fi works of light, and light cannot
pass through solid structures, Li-Fi Internet is available only to the users
within a room and cannot be breached by users in other rooms or buildings.
This prevents other devices from intercepting and decoding your
communications. Communication security is significantly improved using Li-
Fi as it enables you to focus the transfer stream to a minimal area.

Challenges
 Modulation: The key to LiFi communication is the use of modulation. A
modulation in LiFi is to carry a binary data by turning the LED on and off
quickly. To avail LiFi internet services, lights need to be kept ON throughout
day and night.
 Interference: It requires a clear line of sight to work. Also, interference from
other external light source could be a problem during data transmission.
 Coverage: Li-Fi technology uses visible light as its means of communication,
it won't work through walls. This means that to have a Li-Fi
network throughout your house, you will need these light bulbs in every
room to have seamless connectivity.

Implication of LiFi
LiFi is a disruptive technology that is poised to impact many industries. LiFi is a
fundamental 5G technology. It can unlock the IoT, drive Industry 4.0
applications, light-as-a-service (LaaS) in the lighting industry, enable new
intelligent transport systems, enhance road safety when there are more and
more driverless cars, create new cybersecure wireless networks, enable new
ways of health monitoring of aging societies, offer new solutions to close the
digital divide, and enable very high-speed wireless connectivity in future
datacentres. A recent example is where Philips Lighting, now partnering with
Cisco, used Power over Ethernet (PoE) as the basis for a smart building at the
Deloitte HQ in Amsterdam. The installation was 50% cheaper than the
equivalent traditional installation. In addition to immediate cost savings, the
Ethernet backbone with constantly available power enables every light to
become a hub for a host of sensors. This advantage in wireless capacity is
compounded if you consider the amalgamation of cyber security, lighting, and
wireless network planning. LiFi is a key enabler for each of these aspects, and
them together as a whole.