BEEE WORKING MODEL

TOPIC: Li-Fi
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF SUNDEEP SIR

SUBMITTED TO:- SUNDEEP SIR

SUBMITTED BY:-
SHAILESH BARANWAL(19BCS1678)
VISHESH KUMAR(19BCS1679)
OMKAR DUBEY(19BCS1680)
MUSKAN GUPTA(19BCS2936)
AANCHAL BHADAURIYA(19BCS2932)

CLASS&GROUP: CSE-10/B

SUBJECT: BEEE LAB

Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Abbreviations
Key Words
Abstract
Introduction
Chapter One: Problems of Wireless Communication Systems
1-1 What is the Problem?
1-2 Visible Light Communication
Chapter Two: Li-Fi Definition, Working Principle and Advantages
2-1 What is Li-Fi?
2-2 History
2-3 D-Light Project
2-4 Working Principle
2-5 Advantages
Chapter Three: Applications of Li-Fi
3-1 Life with Li-Fi
3-2 Applications of Li-Fi
Chapter Four: Systems of Li-Fi and Challenges
4-1 Implemented Systems
4-2 Li-Fi versus Wi-Fi
4-3 Challenges for Li-Fi
Conclusion
Acknowledgement
List of Figures
Figure 1: Multiple communication systems cause Spectrum Crunch

Figure 2: Location of visible light and RF frequencies at electromagnetic spectrum

Figure 3: Block diagram of the VLC system.

Figure 4: Data transmission via LEDs

Figure 5: The main component of Li-Fi system: LEDs, Photodiode and Image
sensor.

Figure 6: The working principle of the Li-Fi.

Figure 7: Environment with Li-Fi.

Figure 8: Optical Underwater Communications system.

Figure 9: Vehicle Visible Light Communications.

Figure 10: Indoor Navigation system for Blind people.

Figure 11: Li-1st working diagram

Figure 12: Some of the relevant technical expertise and background

accomplishments.

Figure 13: Colour modulation is used to express and receive data.

Figure 14: Reflectance compensation improves accuracy

List of Abbreviations

AP Access points
LED Light Emitting Diode
Li-Fi Light Fidelity
MRI Magnetic Resonance Imaging
RF Radio Frequency
TED Technology Entertainment Design
VLC Visible Light Communication

Key Words
D-Light, Li-Fi, LED, VLC, Wireless communication, Wi-Fi
 Abstract
We know that spectrum is the rare coin for communication engineers.
Nowadays, with the rapid growth of wireless communications the
problem of using spectrum efficiently has become more important. Many
solutions have been proposed to solve this issue; one of these solutions is
the usage of visible light frequencies to send data. These frequencies are
already free and unused. Light fidelity (Li-Fi) is a new short range optical
wireless communication technology which provides the connectivity
within a local network, by using Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) to
transmit data depending on light illumination properties.
We shall explain in this report the basic foundation of this new technology
and its important applications. Then we discuss its challenges and
implemented projects all over the world.
Introduction
Transfer data from one place to another is one of the most important
day-to-day activities. The current wireless networks that connect us to
the internet are very slow when multiple devices are connected. As the
number of devices that access the internet increases, the fixed bandwidth
available makes it more and more difficult to enjoy high data rates and
connect to a secure network. Nowadays, Everyone is interested in using
his mobile phone, laptop to communicate with other people through
Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-Fi) systems, and this technology, Wi-Fi, is widely
used in all public areas like home, cafes, hotels and airports by people,
also the time usage of wireless systems is increasing exponentially every
year; but the capacity is going down, due to the limitation of Radio
Frequency (RF) resources, so we are going to suffer from severe
problem.
In order to overcome this problem in the future, Professor Harald Haas,
an expert in optical wireless communications, proposes in 2011 a
brilliant and applicable solution by using light to transmit data, he
demonstrated how an Light-Emitting Diodes (LED) bulb equipped with
signal processing technology could stream a high-definition video to a
computer and he showed that one watt LED light bulb would be enough
to provide net connectivity to four computers.
This new technology is known as Light–Fidelity (Li-Fi). It is a short
range wireless communication system based on light illumination from
LED, and use the visible light as a signal carrier instead of traditional RF
carrier as in Wi-Fi. Professor Harald Haas coined the term "Light-
Fidelity" and set up a private company, called “Pure Visible Light
Communication”, to exploit that technology. He envisions a future
where data for laptops and smart phones are transmitted through the
light in a room in a secure way.
In this seminar, we will talk about its features, applications and
advantages, some practical projects that have been implemented; and we
will show that it can be seriously the future of communication technology.
 Chapter one:
Problems of Wireless Communication System
In this Chapter, we will talk about severe problem in
communication system which called “Spectrum Crunch”, and
the suggested solutions to solve it. One of the solutions is the
use of visible light; we will describe it briefly and talk about
Visible Light Communication (VLC) systems and their
components.
1-1 What is the Problem?
Despite continuous improvements in wireless communication systems, e.g. 3G,
4G, etc.., a coming crisis is expected due to the lack of sufficient Radio Frequency
(RF) resources, this limitation in bandwidth can‟t support the growth in demand
for high data rates and the large numbers of communication systems, as shown in
Figure 1, within the bandwidths between 300 kHz and 4 GHz. That‟s known as
“Spectrum Crunch”. [1]
Although, spectrum congestion decreases when we use high frequencies to transfer
data, but this not a practice solution, because this part of spectrum requires
complex equipment and causes high cost systems. [2]

Figure 1: Multiple communication systems cause Spectrum Crunch.

So how can we solve this problem?
Actually, there are numbers of technologies that provide realistic and applicable
solutions to this issue. One of them is the “Cognitive Radio”. [3] It is a new sort of
wireless communication with a transceiver architecture that can intelligently detect
which communication channels are in use and which are not, and instantly move
into empty channels to use them to transmit data. Another solution is the
transmission of data using visible light illumination which use very high
frequency. In general, this technology known as Visible Light Communication
(VLC). [2]
There are also many brilliant and efficient solutions, in this seminar we will focus
on Light Fidelity (Li-Fi) technology, which is based on VLC.
1-2 Visible Light Communication
Definition
VLC is an optical communication technology that use visible light rays, these rays
locate between [400-800] THz, as optical carrier for data transmission by
illumination. It uses fast pulses of light, which cannot be detected by the human
eye, to transmit data. [4] [5] It includes any use of the visible light portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum to transmit information. The VLC standardization
process is conducted within IEEE wireless personal area networks working group
(802.15). [6]
One of VLC‟s features is providing wide bandwidth as illustrated in Figure 2. We
can obviously see that usage the optical portion of spectrum guarantees about
10,000 times greater bandwidth compares to the usage of the RF frequencies. [7]

Figure 2: Location of visible light and RF frequencies at electromagnetic spectrum.

Components
As we see in the previous paragraph, VLC is a communication system which
consists of a transmitter, a receiver and a communication channel. The main
components of VLC systems are:
High brightness Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) or any light sources, which acts
as transmitter.
A silicon photodiode has the roll of a detector and it shows a good response to
visible wavelength.
Communication channel is air or fibre optics.

Usually, we add to these components some necessary circuits like a driving circuit
and a receiving circuit. The driving circuit consists of a control circuit and output
stage to modify the data and make it ready to be sent and the receiving circuit
consists of a filter to select the required band, amplification stage to provide the
required Signal to Noise ratio in order to demodulate the signal. We show a block
diagram of VLC system in Figure 3.
 Chapter Two: Li-Fi Definition, Working
Principle and Advantages
In this chapter, we will talk about Li-Fi technology in detail
and show its history, describe the first project; which called
D-Light. In this field, we explain the working principle for
this technology and its advantages.
2-1 What is Li-Fi?
Li-Fi is a new technology for short range wireless communication system; which is suitable for
data transmission via LEDs by illumination. It uses the visible light, a part of the electromagnetic
spectrum that is still not greatly utilized, instead of RF part. [9]
Professor Harald Haas, the original founder of Li-Fi technology, in his Technology
Entertainment Design (TED) global talk on Li-Fi says: “At the heart of this technology is a new
generation of high brightness LEDs”, he also explains “Very simply, if the LED is on, you
transmit a digital 1, if it‟s off you transmit a 0, they can be switched on and off very quickly,
which gives nice opportunities for transmitted data.” It is possible to encode data in the light by
varying the rate at which the LEDs flicker on and off to give different strings of 1s and 0s. Figure
4 illustrates the idea of data transmission using light. The LED intensity is modulated so rapidly
that the human eye cannot notice, so the output appears constant; also more sophisticated
techniques could dramatically increase Li-Fi data rates such as using array of LEDs, where each
LED transmits a different data stream, to provide parallel data transmission. Other ideas are
using mixtures of red, green and blue LEDs to alter the light frequency encoding a different data
channel. In the next paragraphs, we will talk about the history of the technology, its working
principle and its various advantages. [4]

Figure 4: Data transmission via LEDs

2-2 History
The term was first used by Professor Harald Haas from University of Edinburgh, United
Kingdom, in his TED global talk in 2011. Li-Fi idea rates as “one of 50 best inventions of 2011”
on TED world site on the internet. [2] [10]
The first project which explains the idea of Li-Fi was The D-Light project. It was funded from
January 2010 to January 2012 at Edinburgh's Institute for Digital Communications by Professor
Haas; we will explain this project in the next paragraph. [11]
Here we show the history of Li-Fi:
➢ 2011, Haas promoted this technology in TED global talk and helped start a company to
market it. [2]
➢ October 2011, companies and industry groups formed the Li-Fi consortium, to promote
high-speed optical wireless systems and to overcome the limited amount of radio-based wireless
spectrum available by exploiting a completely different part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
[11]
➢ 2012, VLC technology exhibited by using Li-Fi Consortium. [12]
➢ October 2013, Chinese manufacturers work on Li-Fi development kits. [11]
➢ April 2014, the Russian company Stins Coman announced the development of a Li-Fi
wireless local network called BeamCaster. Their current module transfers data at 1.25 Gbps. [11]
2-3 D-Light Project
D-Light, which means “data through illumination”, is the invention of Professor Harald Hass. He
says that his invention can produce data rates faster than 10 Mbps, which is speedier than
average broadband connection. He visualizes a future where data for laptops, smartphones, and
tablets is transmitted through the light in a room, but Haas says that this version is limited by
existing LEDs and by the usage of LEDs as transmitters and detectors at the same time.
However, he has created a better LED, which provides a data rate close to 4 Gbps operating on
just 5 milliwatt of optical output power and using high bandwidth photodiodes at the receiver.
Haas says that we can send data with a distance of 10 meters at up to 1.1 Gbps with a simple
lens, and soon they will increase that up to 15 Gbps. The 802.11ad Wi-Fi standard for the 60
GHz radio band reaches just under 7 Gbps, so Li-Fi would more than double of that rate. [13]
[14]
D-Light system uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) techniques, which
allows us to vary the intensity of the LEDs output at a very fast rate, invisible to the human eye;
for the eye, the bulb would simply be on and providing light. The signal can be picked up by
simple receivers. He says: “It should be so cheap that it‟s everywhere. Using the visible light
spectrum, which comes for free”. [14]
2-4 Working Principle
Li-Fi technology is implemented using white LED light bulbs used for illumination by applying
a constant current. However, by fast variations of the current, the light output can be made to
vary at extremely high speeds. If the LED is on, it transmits a digital 1otherwise it transmits a
digital 0. The LEDs can be switched on and off quickly to transmit data that can‟t be detected by
a human eye. [2]
So what we need at all for sending data are some LEDs and a controller that cods data into those
LEDs and for receiving data, we need an Image Sensor, Photodiode which is used as a detector,
these components are shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5: The main component of Li-Fi system: LEDs, Photodiode and Image sensor.
The LED bulb will hold a micro-chip that will do the job of processing the data. The light
intensity can be manipulated to send data by tiny changes in amplitude.
Figure 6 shows the working principle of Li-Fi system, for data transmission; it can be done by
single LED or multi LED. On the receiver side there is a photo detector, which convert this light
into electric signals and it will give the electric signals to the device connected to it. Voltage
regulator and level shifter circuits are used on both sides to convert or maintain a voltage level
between transmitter and receiver. [12]

Figure 6: The working principle of the Li-Fi.

2-5 Advantages
Li-Fi is ideal for high density wireless data coverage in confined area and for reducing radio
interference issues. Its features include benefits to the capacity, energy efficiency, safety and
security of a wireless system; now, we will talk briefly about each one of these advantages. [4]
[12]
I. Efficiency

The efficiency of each radio station is just 5%due to the fact that most of the energy is used for
the cooling system in base of the radio station. Li-Fi is highly efficient because LED consumes
less energy. [16] It is effective in terms of low cost, low required energy and for various
Environments. In this topic there are some main and important points:
✓ Low cost: Requires fewer components than radio technology, due to the cheap price of the
LEDs and Digital components compared with the microwave equipment.
✓ Energy: LED illumination is already efficient and the data transmission does not requires,
additional power because most energy dissipation in LEDs requires little amount of energy.
✓ Environment: RF transmission and propagation in water is extremely difficult but Li-Fi
works well in this environment. [15]
II. Capacity

Any lighting devices like car lights, ceiling lights, street lamps, etc. are used as a hotspot. It means
that any light spread internet using VLC which helps us to lower cost architecture for a hotspot.
[12] The most important issues here are Bandwidth, Data density and speed.
✓ Bandwidth: The visible light spectrum more abundant 10,000 times compared with the RF
spectrum..
✓ Data density: Li-Fi can achieve about 1000 times the data density of Wi-Fi because visible
light can be well contained in a tight illumination area, whereas RF tends to spread out and cause
interference.
✓ High speed, Very high data rates can be achieved as high as 500mbps or 30GB per minute
due to the low interference, high device bandwidths and high intensity optical output. [4]
III. Safety
Light is all around us – it is a natural part of life – and as such there are no health concerns
associated with its use as a communications medium. It never gives any side effects on any
living thing like radio waves and other communication waves which can dangerously interfere
with electronic circuits and have effects on birds and humans. [10]
IV. Security

“If you can’t see the light, you can’t access the data!”
Because of the signal will not travel through walls, it is difficult to eavesdrop on Li-Fi signals.
You can also see where the data is going, so there is no need for additional security such as pairing
for RF interconnections like Bluetooth. [15]
 Chapter Three: Applications of Li-Fi
The applications of Li-Fi are unlimited and promising for
the future of communications on the planet. In this
Chapter we will talk about some of its applications.
3-1 Life with Li-Fi
The dramatic growth in the usage of LEDs for lighting provides the opportunity to
incorporate Li-Fi technology into a plethora of LED environments, for instance
any lighting devices like car lights, ceiling lights and street lamps are used as a
hotspot which helps us to lower cost architecture for a hotspot.
This technology is particularly suitable for many popular internet applications; you
can download movies, games and music in just a few minutes with the help of Li-
Fi. [15] [12]
Figure 7 shows the environment with the Li-Fi technology where light bulbs are
used as a data communication medium to PC, Laptop and Tablet as it all have
photo detector connected to it as receiver

.
Figure 7: Environment with Li-Fi.
3-2 Applications of Li-Fi
Due to its advantages, Li-Fi has a lot of Life applications. Here we will talk about
some important applications of it.
a. Underwater Communications

Using RF signals is impractical due to strong signal absorption in water. Li-Fi

provides a solution for short-range communications. Submarines could use their
headlamps to communicate with each other, process data autonomously and send
their findings periodically back to the surface in Underwater Remotely Operated
Vehicles (ROV). Another important issue is that Li-Fi can even work underwater
where Wi-Fi fails completely, thereby it‟s open for military operations. [16]
Figure 8 shows water vehicles which use light to communicate with each
other and transfer data between them.

Figure 8: Optical Underwater Communications system.

b. Traffic Management
Li-Fi can help in managing the traffic in a better manner and the accident numbers
can be decreased. Traffic lights can communicate to the car and with each other to
manage the traffic in the street.
Traffic light can play the role of the sender of the data to provide information to
the car on the status of the road or about the situation of other cars as shown in
Figure 9. [15] [16] Also cars can communicate with each other and prevent
accidents by exchanging information. For example, LED car lights can alert drivers
when other vehicles are too close. [12]
c. Airways
We have to switch off mobiles in aircrafts to prevent overlapping of mobile phone
signals with navigation and control signals used by aircraft. Li-Fi can be safely
used on planes because it doesn't interfere with RF. [15] Since it Data is present
where light is present, we can use the lights above the seats in the plane as hotspot.
[12]
d. Medical Applications

One of the most important features of Li-Fi is that it could be used in hospitals and
medical settings that require the lack of RF signals which affect the medical
equipment. For example, OTs (Operation theatres) do not allow using Wi-Fi due to
radiation concerns because usage of Wi-Fi blocks the signals for monitoring
equipment‟s. So, it may be dangerous to the patient's health. [16]

e. Blind Indoor Navigation System

Indoor navigation is convenient for everyone, and it is especially indispensable for
the visually impaired. We proposed such a navigation system for the visually
impaired as shown in Figure 10. LED lights emit visible light with location data
and an embedded system or smartphone with a visible light receiver which
receives the data. The embedded system or smartphone calculates the optimal path
to a designation and speaks to the visually impaired through a headphone. [17]

Figure 10: Indoor Navigation system for Blind people.

f. In Sensitive Areas or in Hazardous Environments
Li-Fi provides a safe communication in environments such as mines and
petrochemical plants, because it doesn‟t cause electromagnetic
interference which appears in RF communications. Li-Fi can also be
used in petroleum or chemical plants where other frequencies could be
hazardous. [15]
For example, power plants like nuclear power plants require grid
integrity and monitoring of the station temperature that need fast, inter-
connected data systems. Wi-Fi and many other radiation types are bad
for sensitive areas surrounding the power plants. Li-Fi could offer safe,
abundant connectivity for all areas of these sensitive locations. [16]
Moreover this technology also enables us to control plants and their
growth without direct presence.
g. Disaster Management
Li-Fi can be used as a powerful means of communication at times of
disaster such as earthquake or hurricanes, for example places like
subway stations and tunnels which are common dead zones for most
emergency communications, don‟t pose obstruction for Li-Fi, so it can
be used there, as emergency communication. [16]
 Chapter Four: Systems of Li-Fi and
Challenges
In this chapter we will talk about some projects that
depend on Li-Fi technology, Comparison between Li-Fi
and other wireless technology and Challenges of Li-fi
technology.
4-1 Implemented Systems
There is a number of implemented systems and projects which uses Li-Fi
technology and provides reliable and new applications and uses for this
technology. Some of these are:
I. pureLiFi™ Company

PureLiFi, the home of Li-Fi, is recognised as the leader in the field – the usage of
the visible light spectrum instead of radio frequencies to enable wireless data
communication. PureLiFi provides high-speed wireless access that offers
substantially greater security, safety and data densities than Wi-Fi along with
inherent properties that eliminate unwanted external network intrusion. In addition,
the integration of illumination and data services generates a measurable reduction
in both infrastructure complexity and energy consumption. [15]

The management Team of this company say: “At pureLiFi, we aim to address and
optimally exploit the opportunities presented by this disruptive technology in
conjunction with our Li-Fi ecosystem partners.” Some Products of this company:
a. Li-1st
The Li-1st provides the first major opportunity for customers to rapidly develop
and test VLC applications for cost-effective, high-speed data communication
solutions that utilize commercial LED infrastructures. In Figure 11 we show the
working principle diagram of this project. [15]
Figure 11: Li-1st working diagram.
The product offers full duplex communication with a capacity of 5Mbps in both
the downlink and uplink over a range of up to three metres, while simultaneously
providing ample desk space illumination. The distance achieved by the system
depends only on the strength of the light source, i.e., the LED light. Li-1st offers a
simple plug-and-play solution for secure wireless point-to-point Internet access
with a wide range of LED luminaires working seamlessly with large 600×600
panels, as well as T5 replacement LED tubes or downlighters. Actually, the Li-1st
is a largely LED luminaire agnostic, providing a diverse tool for deploying and
exploiting the shifting, services based, business model of the lighting industry. The
system has been available on limited release since January 2014. [15]

b. Li-Flame
The Li-Flame is the next generation of the world‟s first high-speed wireless
network solution using VLC. Li-Flame delivers:
An extensive range of wireless communication applications including and
beyond existing Wi-Fi.
A cost-effective delivery of light and data via a single infrastructure.
More flexible construction environments with the elimination of communication
cabling.

The Li-Flame was publicly demonstrated at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

on 2 – 5 March at the Scottish Development International stand. [15]
The main products for this project are:
➢ Li-Flame Ceiling Unit (CU)

It has some main advantages which is Data and power via standard Ethernet port,
Simple installation, Multiple access; and Handover control enables seamless
switching between Access points (APs). [15]
➢ Li-Flame Desktop Unit (DU):

This device also has some excellent advantages, Connects to client device via
USB, 10Mbps infrared uplink to ceiling unit, Handover allowing user to move
from one AP to the next without losing the high-speed data connection,
Transceiver swivel head can be adjusted by user to optimise the connection; and
Battery-powered and portable. [15]
II. UP-VLC Project

Ultra-parallel visible light communications or (UP-VLC) project is a partnership

between 6 research groups at 5 institutions. It is led by Professor M.D. Dawson of
the University of Strathclyde and mentored by Professor P. Blood of Cardiff
University. Some of the relevant technical expertise and background
accomplishments brought by the partners of this project are illustrated in Figure 12.

Figure 12: Some of the relevant technical expertise and background

accomplishments.
In Figure 13: (a) high-fill-factor chequerboard (square grid) GaN LED/CMOS
clusters (Strathclyde/Edinburgh), (b) 1Gb/s eye diagram from 84μm-diameter GaN
micro-pixel LED (Strathclyde), (c) flexible organic semiconductor grating arrays
for hybrid LEDs (Strathclyde/St. Andrews), (d) multiple channel VLC link
(Oxford), (e) 124Mb/s real time video VLC transmission demonstration
(Edinburgh). Seminar Li-Fi Technology

The project Running from October 2012 to September 2016, UP-VLC is an

ambitious EPSRC-funded £4.6 million Programme Grant which will explore the
transformative technology of communications in an imaginative and foresighted
way. The vision is built on the unique capabilities of gallium nitride (GaN)
optoelectronics to combine optical communications with lighting functions and
especially on the capability to implement new forms of spatial multiplexing, where
individual elements in high-density arrays of GaN based LEDs provide
independent communications channels, but can combine as displays. The engineers
who work on this project say: “We envisage ultra-high data density - potentially
Tb/s/mm2 - arrays of LEDs driven via CMOS control electronics in novel
addressing and encoding schemes and in compact and versatile forms".
Recently, by integrating CMOS electronics with GaN based micro-LEDs, they
have developed CMOS-controlled color-tunable smart displays. The color-tunable
LED pixels in these displays have a modulation bandwidth of 100 MHz, thus
providing simultaneously a wavelength-agile source for high-speed visible light
communications. The programmable dynamic images generated from such a
micro-display system are shown below (red „Tetris‟ and green Firework). [18]
Fujitsu Laboratories Working
Fujitsu Laboratories has developed a technology that modulates the colour of light
emitted by LED lights in such a way as to be undetectable to the human eye, but
that can still embed ID data in the light that is cast on an object.
We will talk about two basic concepts: the first one is Key features of this
technology and the second is Reflectance compensation.
The key feature of this technology is that information could be embedded using
colour modulations. For more clarification, we know that colour LEDs combine
the three lights of red, green, and blue (RGB) to produce a range of colours. By
modulating the intensity of the light emitted by each of the three component
colours along the time axis, ID data can be embedded in the light cast onto an
object, even with very small variations. Data for one ID is attached to each
individual LED light. Figure 13 shows transmit and receive data with colour
modulation.

Figure 13: Colour modulation is used to express and receive data.

When light is cast onto a surface, some of it will be absorbed and some reflected,
depending on the reflectivity of that surface. The signal encoded in the respective
RGB wavelengths will wind up being weakened by that partial absorption, and
since this technology uses an image captured by a camera to measure the
reflectivity and Seminar Li-Fi Technology compensate accordingly, information-
capturing accuracy has been improved, this issue is called reflectance
compensation. Figure 14 show that reflectance compensation improves accuracy in
demodulation process. [19]

Figure 14: Reflectance compensation improves accuracy.

4-2 Li-Fi versus Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is the popular name for the wireless Ethernet 802.11b standard for Wire line
local area networks (WLANs). It is the name of a popular wireless networking
technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet and
network connections. This technology works with no physical wired connection
between sender and receiver by using RF, a frequency within the electromagnetic
spectrum associated with radio wave propagation. When an RF current is supplied
to an antenna, an electromagnetic field is created that then is able to propagate
through space. [20]
 Li-Fi is a term of one used to describe visible light communication technology
applied to high speed wireless communication. It acquired this name due to the
similarity to Wi-Fi, only using light instead of radio. Wi-Fi is great for general
wireless coverage within buildings, and li-fi is ideal for high density wireless data
coverage in confined area and for relieving radio interference issues, so the two
technologies can be considered complimentary. Li-Fi provides better bandwidth,
efficiency, availability and security than Wi-Fi and has already achieved
blisteringly high speed compare with Wi-Fi. It is low-cost technology because of
nature of LEDs and lighting units and there are many opportunities to exploit this
medium. Table 1 shows a comparison between Li-Fi and Wi-Fi. [4] [12]
Table 1: comparison between Li-Fi and Wi-Fi
technology Bandwidth Speed Data Rang Security Power Ecological cost
Expansion Density Available impact
Wi-Fi Limited 150 Low Medium Good low Medium medium
Mbps
Li-Fi Exceptional >10 High Low excellent High low Low
Gbps
4-3 Challenges for Li-Fi
Apart from many advantages over Li-Fi, this technology is facing some problems
such as Li-Fi requires line of sight (LOS) and receiving device would not be shift
in indoors. A major challenge is how the receiving device will transmit data back
to transmitter. Another important issue is interference from external light sources
like sun light, normal bulbs; opaque materials in the path of transmission will
cause interruption in the communication. Another disadvantage is that Li-Fi
doesn‟t work in the dark or light can‟t pass through objects, so if the receiver is
inadvertently blocked in any way, then the signal will immediately cut out. And
the signal is easily blocked by somebody simply walking in front of the LED source.
[16] [21]
Conclusion
The possibilities are numerous and can be explored further because the
concept of Li-Fi is currently attracting a lot of eye-balls because it offers
a genuine and very efficient alternative to radio based wireless. It has a
good chance to replace the traditional Wi-Fi because as an ever
increasing population is using wireless internet, the airwaves are
becoming increasingly clogged, making it more and more difficult to get
a reliable, high-speed signal. In the future, data for laptops, smart phones
and tablets can be transmitted through light in the room by using Li- Fi.
Researchers are developing micron sized LED which are able to flicker
on and off around 1000 times quicker than larger LED. If this
technology can be put into practical use, every bulb can be used as a Wi-
Fi hotspot to transmit wireless data and we will proceed toward the
cleaner, greener, safer and brighter future. This concept promises to
solve issues such as the shortage of radio-frequency bandwidth and boot
out the disadvantages of Wi-Fi. Li-Fi is the upcoming and on growing
technology acting as competent for various other developing and already
invented technologies. Hence the future applications of the Li-Fi can be
predicted and extended to different platforms and various walks of
human life.

Acknowledgement
I would like to express my deep gratitude to Prof. SUNDEEP, my
scientific supervisor, for patient guidance, enthusiastic encouragement.
Finally, I wish to thank my parents for their support and encouragement
throughout my study.
References
[1] (2015, jan) Enhanced data transmission protocol for visible light
communications. [Online]. http://www.research-
innovation.ed.ac.uk/Opportunities/enhanced-data-transmission-for-Li-Fi-
communications.aspx

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