Light Fidelity (LiFi) is a high-speed broadband mechanism that uses the light spectrum to transmit and receive data. The Visible Light Communication (VLC) technology uses an LED light to transmit data to a receiver, which can be installed in hotspots, laptops, or smartphones. Infrared signals are then sent back to the LED light by a transmitter.
LiFi can transmit data at speeds of up to 220Gbps, far exceeding WiFi 6’s maximum data rate of 9.6Gbps. LiFi, on the other hand, has a range of only 10 meters, compared to WiFi’s range of 30 meters. Furthermore, LiFi light beams cannot pass through walls.
Despite these disadvantages, the technology holds much promise for military users. The fast and secure LED-based networks can be deployed in specific areas and are not vulnerable to hacking by common RF tools.
LiFi could be the answer to providing high-speed, low-latency connectivity to the growing number of AR/VR devices, including smart glasses. These small and light consumer devices will need to handle real-time computations at multiple gigabits per second, making the technology an ideal candidate for such applications.
The amount of data consumed indoors is increasing dramatically. LiFi can enable technological megatrends like metaverse, which is all about massive bandwidth, massive data, and pipes to enable all of the low-latency, low-jitter, and high-bandwidth devices.
The IEEE has standardized LiFi as 802.11bb, enabling and driving quicker interoperability. LiFi could become a part of our everyday lives in a few years.