Is Li-Fi The Future Of Wi-Fi?

In the past, there was hi-fi. Today, there is Wi-Fi. We’ve been promised a sci-fi future, but could the next big breakthrough involve Li-Fi?
Using light fidelity to transmit digital communications could give us a bright future, in both the literal and metaphorical senses. This pioneering technology uses LEDs to deliver wireless data by adjusting the binary state of each individual diode incredibly quickly. The principles are similar to modern remote controls, though data transfer would be far faster with a theoretical throughput capacity of 224 gigabits per second.
For anyone frustrated by the sluggish nature of their domestic wireless router, scientists predict Li-Fi could be a hundred times faster than modern Wi-Fi configurations, while also being far cheaper. Because the visible light spectrum is 10,000 times larger than the radio frequency spectrum much of our current communications is transmitted across, there is also negligible risk of capacity ever being reached. By contrast, it’s claimed that by 2019 the world will see 35 quintillion bytes of information being distributed every month through Wi-Fi. This will push the limits of what can be achieved with existing wireless technology, due to interference and bandwidth congestion.
One obvious and immediate drawback to Li-Fi is that it requires either line of sight or a reflective surface – it can’t travel through walls the way that Wi-Fi signals do. This shortcoming poses challenges for commercial implementation, though the light waves exist outside the human field of vision, so there’s no potential for visual interference. Indeed, since the light waves involved would be outwith human sight and wouldn’t register on our radar, domestic lightbulbs could double as Li-Fi hubs. Tests last autumn in Estonian office complexes recorded data transmission speeds of 1GB per second; with each light being turned on and off so rapidly, it was impossible for observers to detect any changes in the illumination levels.
Like most of the world’s great inventions, Li-Fi is believed to have been created in the UK, more specifically, by a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. The burgeoning potential of this communications method is underlined by the existence of the Li-Fi Consortium, a non-profit organisation committed to developing optical wireless technology that meets certain standards and protocols. That does not include unidirectional VLC – Li-Fi is a two-way platform, capable of uploading and downloading data. The Consortium’s standardisations are helping today’s technology giants to direct resources towards Li-Fi’s potential, and it was revealed just last week that Apple has already incorporated Li-Fi into current versions of iOS.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of Li-Fi is its relative simplicity to install. It shouldn’t be difficult to manufacture domestic lightbulbs capable of displaying two different light sources simultaneously, but even fitting a few discreet LEDs into the ceiling would be a far easier job than the cumbersome challenge of installing Cat6 cabling. Li-Fi could be used on planes or in hospitals without causing conflicts with sensitive equipment, since light transmissions don’t cause any electromagnetic disturbances. Another advantage of using light to transmit data is the greater imperviousness to hacking than electromagnetic rays; because Li-Fi requires line of sight or reflections, closing the curtains should prevent someone in a van outside being able to interrupt or view any data transfers taking place.
Our ancestors appreciated the importance of visible data transfer, with communication methods like semaphore and smoke signals proving invaluable before the discovery of radio waves. It seems the future of human communications may be slowly but inexorably moving back towards the light.