LiFi is a Line-of-Sight technology
Line of sight is a type of propagation that can transmit and receive data only where transmit and receive stations are in view of each other without any sort of an obstacle between them. Since light bounces off of surfaces, this means that LiFi is not strictly a line-of-sight technology. Of course, being in direct light is a definite advantage because the signal will be stronger but the light will also bounce off of walls and other objects and that reflection can also be used in data transmission.
LiFi is a disruptive technology
First off, let us examine what a disruptive technology is. A disruptive technology is one that displaces an established technology and shakes up the industry or a ground-breaking product that creates a completely new industry. For example, social networking has had a major impact on the way we communicate and has disrupted telephone, email, instant messaging and event planning. Another example is cloud computing, which is considered to be a hugely disruptive technology in the business world, displacing many resources that would conventionally have been located in-house. LiFi is considered to be a disruptive technology relative to Wi-Fi but this is not the case. LiFi is complementary to Wi-Fi, in the same way as Wi-Fi is seen as complementary to cellular data. It can work in conjunction with existing Wi-Fi networks to provide faster and more secure internet connections.
What companies are developing LiFi?
The fact that pureLiFi is the only company developing LiFi technology is another common misconception. pureLiFi is the company that brought the technology to the public spotlight but they are not the first company to have worked on it. The first patent of LiFi was assigned to Huawei – a Chinese multinational networking, telecommunications equipment, and services company – in 2006 which signifies that Huawei was working on LiFi five years before Harald Haas. Currently, most of the patents in LiFi belongs to Samsung which means that the electronics company is working on launching LiFi enabled devices in the near future. Patents are also owned by universities working in this technology and University of Edinburgh leads the list which comes to no surprise since Prof. Harald Haas started his research on LiFi there. Aside from the University of Edinburgh, ETRI, a South Korean University, is also developing the technology and have 5 patents.
However, even if there are many companies and universities working on developing the LiFi technology, pureLiFi is the leading company responsible for its commercialization.
In 2013, the Li-1st marked the introduction of a groundbreaking wireless communication technology. This system became the world’s first LiFi technology available on the market. Then in 2015, the Li-Flame was revealed at Mobile World Congress and was the first LiFi product that allowed for mobile wireless communications. The following year, LiFi-X was released and was the world’s first LiFi dongle which provided downlink and uplink speeds of 42Mbps. In October 2017, the company revealed their latest product: the LiFi-XC which is three times smaller than the previous generation and provides high-speed, bi-directional, fully networked and secure wireless communications through light. It is small enough to be integrated into laptops, tablets and smart appliances.
“Over the past year, we have been driving adoption of LiFi and deploying real-world applications of LiFi for our customers globally. We have now reached the point in miniaturization where we will see LiFi move beyond the dongle and be integrated. The LiFi-XC is a big step towards getting this disruptive technology into every bulb and every mobile device” Alistair Banham, CEO of pureLiFi commented.
LiFi technology still has a long way to go before worldwide adoption but every year, we are getting nearer to enjoying it for ourselves. The future surely looks bright with LiFi.
