For some time there has been mention of the possibility that data from the Internet, not through the path of radio frequency, but through a pulse of light. The latest developments from the PureLiFi firm were presented at the Mobile World Congress 2023.
The main innovation is the light antenna that stands out as the first to match the 802.11bb global communication standard, which is in the final stages of certification and is compatible with 802.11 WiFi network equipment.
Until now, the network with this technology was made of peripherals that facilitated the connection to the LiFi network, but which, due to the fact that the hardware was broken, were more complications than a real solution.
The Light Antenna is optimized for performance, size, cost and throughput requirements of the market, which will enable manufacturers of smartphones and connected devices to integrate LiFi at scale.
Advantages of using light on the Internet.
A big milestone of this antenna is its small size. According to the manufacturer, it is “smaller than a US dime”, which offers greater discretion and better portability.
LiFi, which is short for “light faith”, has been on the market for almost 10 years, with big companies like Disney and Signify investing in it, but, in the absence of a standard, it is not yet mainstream.
Experts note that when light is a wave, like water, it has a characteristic polarization, which allows light to be controlled in the direction in which the waves roll.
By capturing visible light, in some research they have been able to reach speeds of 10 Gbps. This allows data to be sent much faster via optical signals than what Wi-Fi technology currently offers.
Most wireless data transmissions, such as Wi-Fi and 5G, occur through the use of radio frequencies. But with LEDs, engineers can modulate the frequency of light so that it transmits information.
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New device from pureLiFi.
To broaden the spectrum, the company has also proposed a series of concepts that demonstrate how LiFi technology can improve technology in both home and business environments.
One of them is the LiFi Cube, a plug and play LiFi gateway that makes a fast, reliable LiFi connection. And not HALO, an accessory that offers high-speed, low-latency LiFi connectivity to AR/VR headsets.
The development team of this company also showed the LINXC 5G LiFi bridge that shows how light can extend the 5G signal, especially mmWave, through windows when there are challenges to extend said signal in buildings.
“Whether we need to give a safe home, to give a mouth to the mouth, or to extend the services of auxiliary providers of 5G to new customers.” Here we show that the applications for LiFi are vast, that our technology is versatile, and that pureLiFi is poised to increase connectivity,” said Alistair Banham, CEO of puriLiFi.
