What is Li-Fi?

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Getting into the topic now, if the name Li-Fi strikes you with a familiar word Wi-Fi you are not wrong. We all know what Wi-Fi is and we have an article dedicated to that explaining about the difference between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi uses radio waves to transfer data. Radio waves propagate at the same speed as light with respect to the fact that they are a type of electromagnetic waves.

What if we use light instead of radio waves?

Here comes Li-Fi.

Li-Fi uses light to transmit data wirelessly. Li-Fi is based on the Optical Wireless Communications (OWC) technology where light from a source such as an LED is used to transmit data while a photo sensitive detector works as a receiver that receives the data which is processed later.

The base level of this technology is used in TV remotes, where the remote has an emitter that emits infrared while the receiver at TV receives it and understand the operation to be performed.

The working principle is almost same between Wi-Fi and Li-Fi. Medium of transmission is varied from radio waves to light. One point to be noted here is that they both are a type of electromagnetic waves.

Transmitters in Li-Fi technology may use an LED that flickers at high frequency by switching on and switching off the power supply to that LED. Infrared or ultraviolet rays can also be used as a medium as they are not visible to eyes as in our general TV remotes that uses infrared rays as explained before.

What are the advantages of Li-Fi?

Rather than considering Li-Fi as a next level technology. It is considered as a substitute for Wi-Fi in some places for specific reasons including security.

Unlike radio waves in Wi-Fi, light in Li-Fi cannot pass through objects. The receiver in Li-Fi should be in line of sight to the transmitter. This may seem inconvenient as people cannot access internet wirelessly if they are in a different room from the router but, that serves as an advantage in terms of security.

Highly secure wireless transmissions can use Li-Fi as the data can be transferred wirelessly only to the person in line of sight to the transmitter and not others outside the room. This ensures shorter range and lesser hacking probabilities.

Even though Wi-Fi networks can be password protected, it is not impossible to break into a Wi-Fi network.

In flights, internet access can be enhanced by using Li-Fi due to the reason that radio waves in Wi-Fi can cause interference for pilots. Airports can also utilise this technology to avoid wireless radio wave interference in their day to day function which heavily involves radio waves for communication.

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