My contribution to the December issue of tED Magazine, the official publication of the NAED, provides an update on the development of LiFi technology, including its early commercialization efforts. Reprinted with permission.

Light Fidelity (LiFi) is a wireless communication technology, just as the very popular Wi-Fi is. While Wi-Fi uses radio waves, however, LiFi embeds data in visible light, specifically light produced by LEDs.

The concept was popularized by Edinburgh Professor Harald Haas, who demonstrated it during a 2011 TED Talk. Development and standards proceeded until demonstration projects and first commercialization, leading to Global Market Insights forecasting a global market value of $75 billion for the technology by the year 2023.

“We are still in the early stages of adoption,” said Ed Huibers, Head of Business Development – LiFi Systems, Signify (formerly Philips Lighting). “But we are already seeing interest in new applications and enormous potential for LiFi to provide value beyond illumination.”

How it works

LiFi lighting systems perform similarly as other LED systems, providing functional illumination. However, the lamps or luminaires feature a device such as a modem that modulates the light emission at very high frequencies undetectable to the human eye. Network data from the building LAN is thereby converted into a photonic signal.

With this setup, the luminaire is now broadcasting high-speed data in light. Now all we need is a receiver. This might be a computer or mobile device in which a dongle is connected by USB port. The dongle houses a photoreceptor to receive the photonic signal and a decoder that converts the photonic signal back into an electronic form.

If Windows-based, a driver would need to be installed in the device for communication. Should LiFi catch on, future computing devices may be built with onboard receivers, eliminating the need for dongles, and have driver software pre-installed.

That’s how data runs down the network to a user computing device (downlink). Going the other way (uplink), the setup remains the same, though the data is encoded in infrared rather than visible light.

Early introductions

At Light + Building 2018 in Frankfurt, Signify announced a new LiFi platform for its PowerBalance gen2 commercial general luminaires and LuxSpace downlights, available in Europe and with coming availability in North America. Other players include PureLifi (founded by Harald Haas), LumEfficient, and Oledcomm. At LIGHTFAIR 2018 in Chicago, LumEfficient’s Ores Downlight won a Judges’ Citation Award at the LFI Innovation Awards.

“For us, LiFi is an exciting extension and additional use of lighting infrastructure,” noted Huibers. “Lighting is a ubiquitous, powered, and reliable fixture everywhere people live, work, and interact. Now lighting can even connect you to the Internet/networks.”

Huibers said Signify is currently setting up pilot projects globally—including the U.S.—to demonstrate the technology. “In the last few years, we have been developing the LiFi technology itself, but also on optics which makes a good coverage zone and stable connection possible,” he added. “Rapid adoption will be positively influenced by standardization of the technology so device makers can integrate it directly into laptops, tablets, and other mobile devices.”

“Adoption will be slower in the U.S. than in Europe,” said Randy Reid, President, LumEfficient (and editor/publisher of EdisonReport). “Here, adoption will be slow at first until the device manufacturers add a receiver. That is the tipping point. Once that happens, I expect it to revolutionize the way we receive our Internet.”

Benefits and applications

Huibers pointed out LiFi has not come to replace Wi-Fi but to complement it. The approach appears to offer several advantages:

Spectrum. The visible light spectrum is 10,000 times larger than the radio spectrum, which Wi-Fi uses. As wireless data consumption increases steadily and may skyrocket as the Internet of Things accelerates, radio wireless may run into a “spectrum crunch.”

Speed. LiFi is currently running data at up to >1 Gbps in laboratory environments, about 10 times faster than Wi-Fi. That’s the equivalent of more than 15 movies per second. Speed is steadily improving as the technology develops, with speeds up to 224+ Gbps being theoretically possible.

Availability. As Huibers pointed out, lighting is almost everywhere indoors as well as in many outdoor environments. With LiFi, wireless network communication could be offered anywhere there’s a light source.

Efficiency. Energy efficiency is potentially increased as luminaires double as light sources and wireless network access points.

Security. Though strict line of sight isn’t required for data transmission due to reflected light, light and therefore data is confined by obstacles such as walls. This is being touted as a security benefit for applications such as military, financial, and healthcare.

Reliability. LiFi’s stability is improving, and the IEEE had adopted standards opening the door to innovation. “There have been huge advances regarding the stability of LiFi,” said Reid. “The IEEE 802.11 standards committee has now settled on a LiFi standard. Having this standard has removed a big obstacle to LiFi technology.”

At this early phase of the technology, the most suitable applications are where LiFi’s added value justify the cost and risk of early adoption.

“LiFi is a viable option where Wi-Fi is overloaded or there’s interference from multiple Wi-Fi networks, or in locations where radio waves are not allowed and/or not preferred because of security reasons, such as a government building or financial institution,” said Huibers.

Applications may include:

Indoor GPS. Indoor GPS and targeted communications to apps on mobile phones, providing wayfinding, coupons, etc.

High-demand applications. Where a Wi-Fi network is overloaded, LiFi can ensure coverage. “LIGHTFAIR offered free Wi-Fi in Chicago this year and that was great, except that 20,000 people were trying to get on the system and it was almost useless,” Reid said. “Because we had LiFi at the show, we had the fastest wireless at the convention.”

Radio wave-sensitive locations. Applications where radio waves may be hazardous or produce unwanted interference, such as chemical plants and some medical applications.

Hard-to-reach locations. Underwater, subway, and similar applications where radio waves have a difficulty reaching.

Secure applications. “Because LiFi does not travel through buildings or walls, it is significantly more secure than Wi-Fi,” Reid said. “When I was on active duty for Operation Iraqi Freedom, there were rooms where we could not bring a laptop or cell phones, because they were so worried about hacking. We could only use hardwired desktop computers, which made it difficult to collaborate. So LiFi will give the military the ability to have wireless in very secure locations.”

Outdoor services. LiFi street and traffic lights that communicate tourist, traffic, and other information to motorists and pedestrians.

Final word

While still new, LiFi is a technology to watch. It may play a significant role in implementation of the Internet of Things while expanding the availability and speed of wireless network access.
“LiFi is burgeoning new technology that truly makes light an intelligent language that conveys meaning and delivers value beyond illumination,” Huibers concluded.

“Get ready and learn everything you can about LiFi,” said Reid. “This is a rare ground floor opportunity in the lighting industry.”

How Signify’s approach to LiFi works. Image courtesy of Signify.

Craig DiLouie

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