Some time ago (almost 50 years ago, to be more precise), people discovered a way to transmit information with light. Now the method of fiber-optic data transmission is ubiquitous. It is used in various computer systems and systems for transmitting information over long distances. However, today we are not talking about optical fiber, but about a new alternative to Wi-Fi communication, which proposes using ordinary light bulbs in every apartment as an access point. Chinese scientists from Fudan University just recently demonstrated the technology of transmitting information with light rather than radio waves.
Some people may not know or just guess, but the point is that light is just one of the parts of the electromagnetic spectrum that we can see with our own eyes. Radio waves, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and so on are all ordinary electromagnetic waves with different lengths (or frequencies).
If you look at the overall picture, it turns out that visible light also has its own frequency, but this frequency is multiplied by 100 thousand compared to the Wi-Fi signal. This fact can open up several significant advantages: the use of light as a carrier of a Wi-Fi signal can not only increase the overall throughput of data transmission per second (the lower the frequency of the wave, the less information can be transmitted), but the reduction in power signal compared to conventional Wi-Fi networks, where performance depends on how many people are connected to one Wi-Fi access point.
In other words, if we find a way to integrate the wireless Internet connection technology into a conventional lamp, then we will potentially be able to get 10 times more powerful wireless connection than conventional Wi-Fi, and this power will depend only on how close to The light source (light bulb) is the wireless receiver of your router or laptop.
Of course, the new technology has new problems. For example, it will be necessary that this light flicker constantly. And we all know how flickering light can be irritable. Nevertheless, even this problem can be avoided, because this flicker will occur at a speed of several billion times a second. The human eye simply cannot see it. Still, the eyes under such intense light will be tired, and modern light bulbs are not made to work in such conditions. But technology does not stand still.
And although the technology of Li-Fi (Light Fidelity) is still far from the possibility of mass implementation, but the idea is very interesting, especially considering that the new generation of Wi-Fi technology also has its limitations, but it also offers lower performance compared to wireless data transmission based on light. A significant problem with Wi-Fi of a new generation, like that of Li-Fi, is that the technology uses a wider range of radio frequencies, but not all of these radio frequencies can penetrate walls.
The article is based on materials .
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