The concept for using light to provide fast, secure and reliable Internet connectivity, known as LiFi, is not new. The term, which was first used during a 2011 TEDGlobal talk in Edinburgh, Scotland, includes transmitting data over the visible light, ultraviolet, and infrared spectrum. Now you can add lasers.
LiFi, which stands for Light Fidelity, is a wireless optical networking technology that uses light-emitting diodes for data transmission, similar to WiFi but using light instead of radio waves to transmit information. Based on line-of-sight transmissions, LiFi cannot be eavesdropped on or hacked from another room or from outside the building.
Kyocera SLD Laser, Inc. (KSLD), a commercial laser light OEM, has announced it has developed what it says is the world’s fastest LiFi system with data speeds greater than 90 gigabits-per-second.
KSLD’s DataLight LiFi uses dual-emission visible and infrared LaserLight™ sources, which enable customers to commercize intelligent illumination systems. Possible functions include accurate sensing, 3D LIDAR, and optical power transmission. DataLight application performance can be optimized using artificial intelligence and machine learning.
“New wireless technologies are needed to prevent the spectrum crunch,” LiFi.co, an industry group, says on its website. “Thanks to a handful of LiFi companies, LiFi is constantly being developed to keep us all connected.”
It is early days for the use of lasers in LiFi. So for now the LiFi systems will use LEDS or Infrared or both. Signify (formerly Philips Lighting) reported that four schools in Belgium last week went live with LiFi systems using LEDs in an effort to digitize their educational curriculum and provide fast, reliable and secure access to the latest online tools. The Belgian installations follow deployments in schools in Italy, Germany, the U.S., and the Netherlands.
Signify introduced its Trulifi 6002 line in 2019, which attached infrared transceivers onto the luminaires. A Long Island, NY school went online in January supplementing its WiFi with infrared LiFi, according to LEDs Magazine. Lawrence Woodmere Academy has installed Signify Trulifi 6002 LED infrared transceivers but has not installed luminaires. Infrared is used for both downlinks and uplinks.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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