Li-Fi: A technology that seeks to replace Wi-Fi

Andy VilchezFollow

Jan 3, 20224 min de lectura

For many years, when it comes to wireless technology, Wi-Fi has always been the preferred and most widely used.

This is a very good and useful technology, so it is normal that it has become so popular. However, this technology could be about to be replaced by a more efficient Li-Fi.

In recent days, some Caltech scientists made the announcement of a new discovery.

This new discovery is related to three phosphorous atoms that together create a material with the ability to polarize light.

It is a material that has a similarity to the graphic and an anisotropic optical property. They decided to name this new technology Li-Fi.

What is this technology about?

Li-Fi is a technology that allows the transmission of data through a visible light or visible light communication (VLC). It is important to mention that this is not a new term, since it was coined since 2011, however, no important advances had been made until recently.

The purpose of this type of technology is to alter the frequency of the light between 400 and 800 THz.

To achieve this, LED bulbs are used with a high flicker rate that is imperceptible to the eye. However, the photoreceptors for the connection with the devices if they are able to detect it.

In summary, the devices instead of connecting to a radio frequency signal as occurs in the Wi-Fi signal, they will do so through the light of a lit bulb.

How does it work?

The devices must have a receiver which intercepts the signals that are sent from the encoder installed in the bulbs. That is to say, it must be placed in an area that when it is reached by the light and this will establish a connection.

According to two studies carried out, a speed of up to 224 Gbps has been achieved in a laboratory environment.

For its part, in test environments it has been possible to achieve up to 42 Gbps, in both cases, the speed that Wi-Fi technology can deliver is greatly exceeded. Remember that the traditional Wi-Fi speed is capable of reaching about 6.9 Gbps, while the new Wi-Fi 6 is capable of reaching up to 9.6 Gbps.

Advantages and disadvantages of this technology

We already know what technology is and how it works, so we only need to know what its advantages or disadvantages are. Next, we will talk about the main advantages and disadvantages of this new technology.

Advantage

Among the main advantages that Li-Fi technology has, we could mention the fact that it offers a connection speed much higher than what Wi-Fi can offer. In addition, it offers greater security, which makes it attractive for industries and even the home.

Additionally, we have that it is a new technology that lacks interference. Unlike the Wi-Fi technology that is broadcast by radio, it is frequent and has a large amount of noise (interference) in the environment.

And this is something that can directly affect the stability of the Wi-Fi connection.

Disadvantages

Li-Fi technology has a clear disadvantage and that is that in order to work it is necessary to have the lights on all the time. The area in which you are is going to be necessary to have the light bulb turned on so that you can have a connection.

So, even in the daytime you will have to do it, which can represent a high energy cost to always have the lights on.

Additionally, we have that unlike radio frequency technology that has the ability to pass through walls, light does not.

This means that it will be necessary to have a light bulb with this technology in each of the rooms.

Although the cost of the light bulbs is not yet known, it may be more expensive to cover the entire home than with a router.

Can it replace Wi-Fi?

This is a technology that is still in testing, however it has shown that it could be used to transmit a wireless signal through light.

It should be noted that we recently learned about Wi-Fi 6, which is a technology that allows us to transmit data at high speed.

So, we can say that Wi-Fi technology still has quite a bit of time left, but it is likely that it will gradually be replaced by it.

After all, Li-Fi technology is the future, and it will offer higher connection speeds over longer distances and much more stable. However, it is still under development and research.

So don't worry, your Wi-Fi router still has several years to live.