Li-Fi: a new technology 100 times faster than Wi-Fi

Li-Fi, the new technology of data transmition that is causing agitation in the IT.

      In contrast to WiFi, which uses radio waves, Li-Fi, or Light Fidelity, is a wireless communication technology based on the use of light in the visible spectrum between blue and red, meaning from 670 to 480 THz.
     This technology can be seen as merely an improvement on Morse code. Lights flash at a frequency imperceptible to the human eye, but that computers can interpret by converting this light signal into information. Experts estimate that its data transmission speed is 100 times greater than that of the average Wi-Fi speed that Europeans have at home, which is 10.3 Mbps.
     Data transmission by light could be used in various situations, such as between smart vehicles with data exchange to avoid accidents, or also in street lighting, in which lamps would transform the streets in to internet hotspots. To decode this signal sent by street lamps, computer’s or smartphone’s cameras would be used. Moreover, you will not be able to see the flashing light with the naked eye because the bulbs will wink billions of times per second. For comparison, a fluorescent light bulb flickers between 10 000 and 40 000 times per second.
     The Li-Fi system is already in the test phase. It has been successfully used in France for a commercial real estate convention in Porte Maillot. The High Speed ​​Bidirectional Li-Fi was presented by Sogeprom, a real estate subsidiary of Société Générale, and Lucibel Rueil-Malmaison, the developers of this technology in France. It has been tested since June 2015 by Sogeprom in two meeting rooms in La Défense business district.
     Wi-Fi creates Electromagnetic Interference (EMI), known to interfere with airplane’s instruments and equipment in hospitals, and is potentially dangerous in hazardous operations, such as power/nuclear generation or oil and gas drilling. Given that, Li-Fi could replace Wi-Fi in these specifc situations since it uses light instead of radio waves to transmit data.
     Although this revolution seems very promising, reaching full rollout will take time. Indeed, for the moment, Li-Fi cannot penetrate walls or work in places where darkness is required. Moreover, it will take time to adapt the sources that produce light in our daily lives. The system’s inventor Harald Haas said: "The only thing needed would be to add a microchip to each lighting element, thereby allowing lamps to be used as both a light source and a data transfer chanel ". Li-fi has great promise for the future.

Iohana Barros and Camila Birocchi

Sources:
http://espace-temps.blogs.nouvelobs.com/archive/2015/12/10/et-si-stonehenge-avait-d-abord-ete-construit-au-pays-de-gall-575273.html
http://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/royaume-uni/le-megalithe-de-stonehenge-a-t-il-d-abord-ete-erige-au-pays-de-galles_1210975.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue6zbAMEWXQ
http://www.meltydiscovery.fr/stonehenge-de-nouveaux-mysteres-resolus-a479448.html
http://www.futura-sciences.com/magazines/terre/infos/actu/d/geologie-stonehenge-origine-pierres-bleues-enfin-connue-35408/