Wi-Fi

The 802.11a/g Wi-Fi standard provides transmission speeds of up to 54 Mbps, and this can be increased to 1 Gbps. The University of Edinburgh has already reached 3 Gbps in monochrome mode. A single full-color RGB LED can transmit up to 9 Gbit/s.

Li-Fi technology (ultra-fast LED Internet): overview, description, device and prospects

Li-Fi is a new data transmission technology that will revolutionize business in the future, creating opportunities ripe for use today, and is poised to become a multi-billion dollar industry by 2022. Developments are underway to achieve 1Gbps speeds that will surpass ultra-fast broadband.

The term Li-Fi was coined by Professor Harald Haas and refers to a method of transmitting information using light that provides high-speed bi-directional mobile communications similar to Wi-Fi. It can be used both to offload existing networks operating on radio frequencies and to increase their bandwidth.

It uses the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum for ultra-fast communication. This distinguishes this technology from such an established form of wireless communication as Wi-Fi, which uses traditional frequencies.

In Li-Fi, data is transmitted by modulating the intensity of light, picked up by a photodetector, and the signal is converted to electrical. The modulation is done in such a way that the human eye cannot perceive it.

Li-Fi high-speed optical communication technology belongs to the category of wireless communications, which, in addition to visible light, includes infrared and ultraviolet. Its uniqueness lies in the use of existing lighting networks.

Li Fi – ultra-fast Internet on LEDs

When a constant current is applied to the LED lamp, it emits a steady stream of photons of visible light. As the current decreases or increases, the brightness also changes. Since LED lamps are semiconductor devices, the current and therefore the optical output can be modulated at a very high rate. It can be picked up by the photocell and converted back into electrical current. Luminance modulation is invisible to the human eye and is as convenient as radio. With this technique, the LED lamp is capable of transmitting information at high speed.

Radio-frequency communication requires electrical circuitry, antennas and complex receivers, while Li-Fi-technology is much simpler. It uses direct modulation methods similar to those used in inexpensive infrared communication devices such as remote controls. The use of infrared communication is limited due to the requirements of sanitary regulations for eye safety, while LED lights have a high intensity of luminescence and demonstrate a significant speed of operation.

What is Li-Fi

Li Fi – a technology that appeared relatively recently, but has already conquered the market and has received the "status" of the successor to the Vi Fi. The role of the creator was a physicist H. Haas from Germany, who used an LED lamp instead of an Internet router. Under laboratory conditions, he was able to achieve speeds of 224 Gb/s. For example, such a parameter allows you to download about 20 films of 1.3 Gb in a second.

The principle of operation

One of the features of the systems is the simple principle of Li Fi technology. It includes two elements:

A signal source emits a flickering light, which is received by a sensitive sensor and converted into a set of digital "ones" and "zeros." Each device must have both elements to create two-way communication.

The peculiarities of Li Fi technology allow manufacturers not to bother with the creation of complex equipment. In practice, the role of the router is played by an LED lamp with a changing glow. In this case, a PC, phone or other device is equipped with a light sensor that allows you to recognize these flickers. Their speed is so high that the human eye does not notice these moments. The resulting flickers are further converted into numbers (mentioned above).

In the reverse direction the work is done in the following way. The lamp has a built-in photo sensor, and the phone or other equipment transmits the data by the same flickers of the display backlight or a special LED. If the device does not have a screen, you can use a special light source in the case for this purpose.

Let's skip that

Huge audiences and millions of views on YouTube do not guarantee any income to the authors of the compositions – most of them are simply not compensated for the inclusion of works in the mix. But musicians don't mind – there's a friendly atmosphere in the lo-fi environment: they don't complain about the channels, and if they do get warnings, it's only from the companies that own the rights to the video content, which is often used to make the gifs for airplay design.

Many of those who support the broadcasts are not looking for publicity. Take the channel ChilledCow for example – its owner's name is Dmitry, he lived in Paris some time ago, and that's all. There is no other information about him yet and most likely will not appear.

Channels do not make money on advertising either. In the lo-fi environment, it is not customary to interrupt broadcasts with promo inserts, and there is no money to be made from prerolls.

And the payment for the user's stream from the site is on average a tenth of a cent, which allows you to count on only a thousand dollars to those whose broadcasts break the bar in a million listens. That's about the math experts and music journalists give when discussing lo-fi channels like College Music.

Those who could.

Dedication and business acumen allow the owners of some lo-fi channels to "raise" decent money. That is the way Chillhop Music, a channel that can be called a full-fledged business project and a kind of label in this niche, is developing.

His team converts the YouTube audience into listeners of selections and mixes, but already on another platform – Spotify. As the director of the project notes, its creators managed to get more than a billion streams there, which can talk about multimillion-dollar payouts.

However, there is a suspicion that only a part of this money reaches musicians – for example, the lo-fi label Strange Fruits shares with them only one third of income, although in this niche it is customary to distribute earnings in equal shares. Moreover, they usually prefer to release their compositions one by one and on different labels – in this way the authors avoid long contracts for several albums with strict obligations and, probably, modest royalties.

Applications

Ly-Fi is planned to be used in the military industry, Internet stuff, underwater communication and as a tool in the field of information security. Perhaps in the near future the technology will find applications in everyday human life.

Military Industry

The coverage of Ly-Fi is limited to a small illuminated area. For example, such as a tent. Similarly, it restricts unauthorized access to confidential information under designated conditions and in an area where cell phones and smartphones are not used. Such a location is an ammunition depot.

Underwater communication

Li-Fi is also used in an underwater Internet connection. The light propagates through the water. The radio signals with Li-Fi, on the other hand, do not penetrate the water. This instantly changes the way underwater vehicles are interconnected.

Internet of Things

Li-Fi has a smaller radius of action than Wi-Fi. Therefore, the former technology is more responsible for information preservation. This specification becomes useful in areas where a lot of sensitive data is handled. For example, in the field of health care.

Information security

In the future, it is likely that every device will inevitably be connected to the Internet. Most likely, the Vi–Wi-Fi will probably be very hard to do. Given the periodic growth in demand for communication devices, Li–Fi technology stands a good chance of rapid adoption. After all, Li–Fi combines the illumination and transmission of information.

Today, Li-Fi is only being perfected and is spreading to the internal structures of the state. Most likely, the technology will be offered to consumers in the future as an alternative to the Wi-Fi connection.

The evolution of Li-Fi technology

pureLiFi is considered the leader in the field of Li-Fi technology. At the head of its research center is Professor Harald Haas, the same one who first demonstrated the Li-Fi technology in 2011.

Li-1st

The first prototype for the developers was the Li-1st. It became a tool for testing wireless communication technologies. The device supports full duplex communication with a bandwidth of 11.5 Mbit/s within a range of 3 meters with simultaneous and sufficient light on the desktop. The places where you can connect seamlessly depend only on the strength of the light source. The device offers a simple and safe wireless connection to the network.

Li-Flame

The next step was the Li-Flame. Li-Flame was publicly introduced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in March 2016. It is the next generation of the world's first high-speed wireless network based on visible light. The obvious advantages of the technology were greater data density than even the best Wi-Fi and increased protection against tampering. In addition, by combining light and wireless technology, it was possible to reduce power consumption and simplify connectivity.

• The technology offers a half-duplex connection of 10 Mbit/s within a radius of 3 m with standard lights and a data density of 2 Mbit per square meter;
• ow mobility (portable desktop power supply) with high data transfer speeds thanks to the dense installation of Li-Fi access points;
• secure wireless communication within the reach of the light, eliminating the risk of external connectivity;
• secure wireless networking where radio frequencies are undesirable or inaccessible;
• no cables or other devices to connect;
• savings on ancillary devices through a single infrastructure.

• Data transmission and power through a standard Ethernet port;
• easy to install;
• connects to the LED light, forming an ATTO network;
• multiple access;
• seamless switching between access points.

Conclusion

Technology does not stand still. Certainly, Li-Fi cannot yet completely replace everyone's favorite Wi-Fi, but undoubtedly it will become an excellent assistant in the development of global communications network. In any case, forecasts promise that by 2022 the value of the industry can be estimated at more than $113 billion.

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Li-Fi device

In theory, a Li-Fi system is quite simple to set up. LEDs and photodetectors are installed in the ceiling luminaires. The router, connected to the cable network, modulates electrical pulses, and the LED converts them into a stream of light.

Then, with the help of a receiver mounted on the gadget (usually a photo camera is used), the information is processed by the processor. The data transfer from the user takes place through the screen of the phone or tablet. A special application processes the transmitted data, and the backlight diodes of the screen emit a simulated stream of light.

The radiation is picked up by sensors and converted in the modem, then sent to the World Wide Web. Since the modulation is at a very high frequency, the human eye does not catch the flicker of the screen and lights. Therefore, the use of Li-Fi does not cause discomfort. And due to the fact that the wavelength of light is much smaller than that of modems operating on radio frequencies, the amount of information transmitted can be much greater.

Accordingly, it becomes possible to watch streaming video in 4K, quickly download large amounts of information, instantly load Web-pages. Li-Fi devices can be equipped with desktop computers, Smart TVs and Internet players. And Li-Fi signals do not penetrate walls and thick curtains, which means there is less risk of unauthorized connection and data theft.

New Li-Fi Internet technology

Look at any light bulb in your home or office and imagine it gives out the internet in the same way a Wi-Fi router does. You are next to the light bulb for only a couple of minutes, but you've already managed to download 10 films in perfect quality. With Li-Fi, such fantasies will become real, as the light gets an additional function besides lighting. First, let's understand what Li-Fi is.

Li-Fi technology uses light to move wireless data that is in the beam. Devices that incorporate Li-Fi transform the beam into an electrical signal. The digital signal is then transformed back into data, and the light bulb actually becomes a wireless router. The term Li-Fi was first used by physicist Harald Haas in 2011.

Li-Fi equipment contains a chip that modulates light to transmit data optically. The data is moved by LED lights, then received by photoreceptors. The advantage of Li-Fi over Wi-Fi is the data transfer rate, which is 100 times faster and can reach 1 Gb/s.

How Li-Fi works and where it's used

LED lights can be adjusted (dimming) at high speed, which is invisible to the human eye. Pulses in dimming LED lamps are converted into an electrical signal. After the conversion, the signal is again transformed into a stream of binary data, which appears as audio files, video files and web content with Internet access.

In addition to the pluses of speed and stability of data transfer over Li-Fi, there are also disadvantages:

Despite a number of serious downsides, Li-Fi will undoubtedly become a world-changing technology. The benefits of "light Internet" will be in demand in the following industries:

• Underwater communications. The light propagates perfectly in water, which cannot be said about the radio signal. Thus, under water Li-Fi has a significant advantage over its older competitor.
• Military industry. The military often needs limited access to an Internet connection in places like a tent or ammunition depot. With Li-Fi, they won't have to worry about that.
• Internet of Things. For IoT devices, speed and stability of data transfer are very important, something Li-Fi gives a significant head start to Wi-Fi.

Just as the Internet changed the world 30 years ago, now it is ready to take humanity's progress to a fundamentally different level, and Li-Fi and 5G will be the leading mechanisms to achieve it.

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