Your next router could be a lightbulb: Ultra-fast 'Li-Fi' tech just took a major step toward mass-market availability
TechPowerUp reports that the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers has certified 802.11bb as a standard for «light-based wireless communications,» known as «Li-Fi.» This certification «provides a globally recognised framework for deployment of LiFi technology,» say Li-Fi tech companies pureLiFi and Fraunhofer HHI.
Li-Fi, which was introduced in 2011, is short for «Light Fidelity.» It literally uses visible, infrared, or ultraviolet light instead of radio frequencies for high-speed data transmission. Li-Fi uses special LED light bulbs installed in houses and offices as routers. Since light travels much faster than Wi-Fi radio waves, data speeds are significantly faster. How much faster? Speeds up to a ridiculous 224GB/s are promised by Li-Fi companies or «the equivalent of downloading 18 HD movies every second.» According to the LiFi site, the speeds are «due to the fact that the visible light spectrum is 1,000 times larger than the RF spectrum, which is only about 300 GHz.»
According to one of the biggest Li-Fi companies, Fraunhofer, Li-Fi can benefit AR/VR and gaming with «very low latencies.» The more practical applications for Li-Fi would be for businesses, schools, hospitals, or any other organization that requires fast, reliable, and, most importantly, secure wireless internet.
Light can't penetrate walls like radio waves, which is both a downside and an advantage for Li-Fi. It means you need a Li-Fi-equipped LED bulb in the room you want to use it in, but Fraunhofer says this will «reduce jamming and eavesdropping risks» since the data transmission range is limited to the coverage area of the light, making it difficult to hijack the signal without being physically present in the same room.
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