Thomson Lightning, one of the major manufacturers of LED bulbs, and OLEDCOMM, a young company from France, have showcased prototypes of LiFi during 2014 IT Partners show.


The easiest explanation for LiFi currently is that it is a mean for data transmission, where LEDs are used to emit light in visible spectrum. These LEDs have switching times which are measured in nanoseconds and can deliver pulses. Currently, the company demonstrates the solution with two LED lamps, which connect two different IP addresses to a table with transfer speeds of 54Mbit and lab tests which are almost at 1Gbit. The only drawback is that it does not return data and it is currently only a one way communication.

Those fast switching LED lights are the source and there are currently three versions of the receiver. The first one is a simple light sensor which can be software enabled to receive LiFi, the second is a jack dongle, which adds sensor and third is a simple protective film applied to screen which is developed by OLEDCOMM.

The first packs with LiFi base should be ready in April and although it might not be an alternative to WiFi or CPL there is still a lot ways to use it and a lot of practical applications, especially due to its low power consumption with LEDs.



Source: Le Comptoir du Hardware