1.

INTRODUCTION

In the era of overcrowded (data communication) world, Li-Fi is a new way of

wireless communication that uses LED lights to transmit data wirelessly.
Transmission of data is one of the most important day to day activities in the fast
growing world. The current wireless networks that connect us to the Internet are
very slow when multiple devices are connected. Also with the increase in the
number of devices which access the Internet, the availability of fixed bandwidth
makes it much more difficult to enjoy high data transfer rates and to connect a
secure network. Radio waves are just a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum
available for data transfer. Li-Fi has got a much broader spectrum for transmission
compared to conventional methods of wireless communications that rely on radio
waves. The basic ideology behind this technology is that the data can be transferred
through LED light by varying light intensities faster than the human eyes can
perceive. This technology uses a part of the electromagnetic spectrum that is still
not greatly utilized- The Visible Spectrum, instead of Gigahertz radio waves for
data transfer.

The idea of Li-Fi was introduced for the first time by a German physicist Harald
Hass in the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Global talk on Visible Light
Communication (VLC) in July 2011, by referring to it as “data through
illumination”. He used a table lamp with an LED bulb to transmit a video of a
blooming flower that was then projected onto a screen. In simple terms, Li-Fi can
be thought of as a light-based Wi-Fi i.e. instead of radio waves it uses light to
transmit data. In place of Wi-Fi modems, Li-Fi would use transceivers fitted with
LED lamps that could light a room as well as transmit and receive information. By
adding new and unutilized bandwidth of visible light to the currently available
radio waves for data transfer, LiFi can play a major role in relieving the heavy
loads which the current wireless system is facing. Thus it may offer additional
frequency band of the order of 400 THz compared to that available in RF
communication which is about 300 GHz. Also, as the Li-Fi uses the visible
spectrum, it will help alleviate concerns that the electromagnetic waves coming
with Wi-Fi could adversely affect our health.

By Communication through visible light, Li-Fi technology has the possibility to

change how we access the Internet, stream videos, receive emails and much more.
Security would not be an issue as data can’t be accessed in the absence of light. As
a result, it can be used in high security military areas where RF communication is
prone to eavesdropping.

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 2. ARCHITECTURE

Li-Fi which can be the future of data communication appears to be a fast and cheap
optical version of Wi-Fi. Being a Visible Light Communication (VLC), Li-Fi uses
visible light of electromagnetic spectrum between 400 THz and 800 THz as optical
carrier for data transmission and illumination. It uses fast pulses of light to transmit
information in wireless medium.
The main components of a basic Li-Fi system may contain the following:
a) A high brightness white LED which acts as transmission source.
b) A silicon photodiode with good response to visible light as the receiving element.
Switching the LEDs on and off can make them generate digital strings with different
combination of 1s and 0s. To generate a new data stream, data can be encoded in the
light by varying the flickering rate of the LED. In this way, the LEDs work as a
sender by modulating the light with the data signal. The LED output appears constant
to the human because they are made to flicker at a phenomenal speed (millions of
times per second) and it’s impossible for human eye to detect this frequency.
Communication rate more than 100 Mbps can be achieved by using high speed LEDs
with the help of various multiplexing techniques. And this VLC data rate can be
further increased to as high as 10 Gbps via parallel data transmission using an array of
LED lights with each LED transmitting a different data stream.
The Li-Fi transmitter system comprises of four primary subassemblies:
• Bulb
• RF Power Amplifier Circuit (PA)
• Printed Circuit Board (PCB)
• Enclosure

Fig 2: Block Diagram of Li-Fi sub-assemblies

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The Printed circuit board (PCB) controls the electrical inputs and outputs of the lamp
and houses the microcontroller used to manage different lamp functions. A Radio
Frequency (RF) signal is generated by the Power Amplifier and is directed into the
electric field of the bulb. As a result of the high concentration of energy in the electric
field, the contents of the bulb will get vaporized into a plasma state at the bulb’s centre.
And this controlled plasma in turn will produce an intense source of light. All of these
subassemblies are contained in an aluminium enclosure as shown in Fig. 2 above.

Li-Fi Bulb sub-assembly: The bulb sub-assembly is the main part of the Li-Fi
emitter. It consists of a sealed bulb embedded in a dielectric material which serves two
purposes: one, it acts as a waveguide for the RF energy transmitted by the PA (Power
Amplifier) and two, it acts as an electric field concentrator that focuses the energy into
the bulb. The collected energy from the electric field rapidly heats the material in the
bulb to a plasma state that emits light of high intensity of Visible light spectrum.

Fig 3: shows the sub-assembly of the bulb.

There are various inherent advantages of this approach which includes high brightness,
excellent colour quality and high luminous efficacy of the emitter – in the range of 150
lumens per watt or greater. The structure is mechanically robust without typical
degradation and failure mechanisms associated with tungsten electrodes and glass to
metal seals, resulting in useful lamp life of 30,000+ hours. In addition, the unique
combination of high temperature plasma and digitally controlled solid state electronics
results in an economically produced family of lamps scalable in packages from 3,000
to over 100,000 lumens.

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 3. WORKING OF LI-FI

3.1 Basic Concept:

Light Fidelity (Li-Fi) technology is a wireless communication
system based on the use of visible light between the violet (800 THz) and red (400
THz). Unlike Wi-Fi which uses the radio part of the electromagnetic spectrum, Li-Fi
uses the optical spectrum i.e. Visible light part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The
principle of Li-Fi is based on sending data by amplitude modulation of the light source
in a well-defined and standardized way. LEDs can be switched on and off faster than
the human eyes can detect since the operating speed of LEDs is less than 1 microsecond.
This invisible on-off activity enables data transmission using binary codes. If the LED
is on, a digital ‘1’ is transmitted and if the LED is off, a digital ‘0’ is transmitted. Also
these LEDs can be switched on and off very quickly which gives us a very nice
opportunity for transmitting data through LED lights, because there are no interfering
light frequencies like that of the radio frequencies in Wi-Fi. Li-Fi is thought to be 80%
more efficient, which means it can reach speeds of up to 1Gbps and even beyond. Li-
Fi differs from fibre optic because the Li-Fi protocol layers are suitable for wireless
communication over short distances (up to 10 meters). 5 This puts Li-Fi in a unique
position of extremely fast wireless communication over short distances.

Fig 5: Li-Fi Transmission

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3.2 How it Works:
The working of Li-Fi is very simple. There is a light emitter on one end i.e.
an LED transmitter, and a photo detector (light sensor) on the other. The data input to
the LED transmitter is encoded in to the light (technically referred to as Visible Light
Communication) by varying the flickering rate at which the LEDs flicker ‘on’ and ‘off’
to generate different strings of 1s and 0s. The on/off activity of the LED transmitter
which seems to be invisible (The LED intensity is modulated so rapidly that human eye
cannot notice, so the light of the LED appears constant to humans), enables data
transmission in light form in accordance with the incoming binary codes: switching ON
a LED is a logical '1', switching it OFF is a logical '0'. By varying the rate at which the
LEDs flicker on and off, information can be encoded in the light to different
combinations of 1s and 0s. In a typical setup, the transmitter (LED) is connected to the
data network (Internet through the modem) and the receiver (photo detector/light
sensor) on the receiving end receives the data as light signal and decodes the
information, which is then displayed on the device connected to the receiver. The
receiver (photo detector) registers a binary ‘1’ when the transmitter (LED) is ON and a
binary ‘0’ when the transmitter (LED) is OFF. Thus flashing the LED numerous times
or using an array of LEDs (perhaps of a few different colours) will eventually provide
data rates in the range of hundreds of Mbps. The Li-Fi working is explained in a block
diagram (Fig.6).

Hence all that is required, is some or an array of LEDs and a controller that
controls/encodes data into those LEDs. All one has to do is to vary the rate at which the
LEDs flicker depending upon the data input to LEDs. Further data rate enhancements
can be made in this method, by using array of the LEDs for parallel data transmission,
or using mixtures of red , green and blue LEDs to alter the light’s frequency, with each
frequency encoding a different data channel. Figure 7 shows working/deployment of a
Li-Fi system connecting the devices in a room.

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 Fig 7: Li-Fi system connecting devices in a room

3.3 Why Visible Light Communication:

The frequency spectrum that is available to us in the
atmosphere consists of many wave regions like X-rays, gamma rays, u-v region,
infrared region, visible light rays, radio waves, etc. Any one of the above waves can be
used in the upcoming communication technologies but why the Visible Light part is
chosen? The reason behind this is the easy availability and lesser harmful effects that
occur due to these rays of light. VLC uses the visible light between 400 THz (780 nm)
and 800 THz (375 nm) as medium which are less dangerous for high-power applications
and also humans can easily perceive it and protect themselves from the harmful effects
whereas the other wave regions have following disadvantages:-
• Radio waves are expensive (due to spectrum charges) and less secure (due to
interference and possible interception etc.)
• Gamma rays are harmful because it could be dangerous dealing with it, by the human
beings due to their proven adverse effects on human health.
• X-rays have health issues, similar to the Gamma Rays.
• Ultraviolet light can be considered for communication technology purposes at place
without people, otherwise they can also be dangerous for the human body when
exposed continuously.
• Infrared, due to high safety regulation, can only be used with low power. Hence the
Visible light portion (from red to blue) of the electromagnetic spectrum does not cause
any harm to the people as visible rays are safe to use, provide larger bandwidth and also
have a promising future in the communication field.

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 4. COMPARISON BETWEEN LI-FI AND, WI-FI AND
OTHER RADIO COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES:

Both Wi-Fi and Li-Fi can provide wireless Internet access to users, and both the
technologies transmit data over electromagnetic spectrum. Li-Fi is a visible light
communication technology useful to obtain high speed wireless communication. The
difference is: Wi-Fi technology uses radio waves for transmission, whereas Li-Fi
utilizes light waves. Wi-Fi works well for general wireless coverage within
building/campus/compound, and Li-Fi is ideal for high density wireless data coverage
inside a confined area or room and is free from interference issues unlike the Wi-Fi.
Table I shows a comparison of transfer speed of various wireless technologies. Table
II shows a comparison of Li-Fi with Wi-Fi.

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4.1 Shortcomings of Radio Waves Transmission vs Li-Fi Transmission:

The following are the basic issues with radio waves:

a) Capacity: Wireless data is transmitted through radio waves which are limited and
expensive. It has a limited bandwidth, vis-à-vis Li-Fi. With the rapidly growing world
and development of technologies like 3G, 4G and so on we are running out of radio
spectrum.
b) Energy Efficiency: There are a large number of cellular radio base stations that
consume massive amount of energy. Most of the energy is used for cooling down the
base station instead of transmission. Therefore, efficiency of such Radio base stations
is very low.
c) Availability: Availability of radio waves is a big concern. Further,
Radio waves are not advisable to be used in aeroplanes and at places where radio
interference may cause undesirable/catastrophic result.
d) Security: Radio waves can penetrate through walls. They can be intercepted. If
someone has knowledge and bad intentions, they may misuse it. This causes a major
security concern for Wi-Fi.

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 5. ADVANTAGES OF LI-FI:

Li-Fi, which uses visible light to transmit signals wirelessly, is an emerging technology
poised to compete with Wi-Fi. Also, Li-Fi removes the limitations that have been put
on the user by the Radio wave transmission such as Wi-Fi as explained above.
Advantages of Li-Fi technology include:
a) Efficiency: Energy consumption can be minimised with the use of LED illumination
which are already available in the home, offices and Mall etc. for lighting purpose.
Hence the transmission of data requiring negligible additional power, which makes it
very efficient in terms of costs as well as energy.
b) High speed: Combination of low interference, high bandwidths and high-intensity
output, help Li-Fi provide high data rates i.e. 1 Gbps or even beyond.
c) Availability: Availability is not an issue as light sources are present everywhere.
Wherever there is a light source, there can be Internet. Light bulbs are present
everywhere – in homes, offices, shops, malls and even planes, which can be used as a
medium for the data transmission.
d) Cheaper: Li-Fi not only requires fewer components for its working, but also uses
only a negligible additional power for the data transmission.
e) Security: One main advantage of Li-Fi is security. Since light cannot pass through
opaque structures, Li-Fi internet is available only to the users within a confined area
and cannot be intercepted and misused, outside the area under operation.
f) Li-Fi technology has a great scope in future. The extensive growth in the use of
LEDs for illumination indeed provides the opportunity to integrate the technology into
a plethora of environments and applications.

5.1 LIMITATIONS OF LI-FI:

• Internet cannot be accessed without a light source. This could limit the locations and
situations in which Li-Fi could be used.
• It requires a near or perfect line-of-sight to transmit data
• Opaque obstacles on pathways can affect data transmission
• Natural light, sunlight, and normal electric light can affect the data transmission speed
• Light waves don’t penetrate through walls and so Li-Fi has a much shorter range than
Wi-Fi
• High initial installation cost, if used to set up a full-fledged data network.
• Yet to be developed for mass scale adoption.

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 6. STANDARDIZATION

The Visible Light Communication interest group, certified by the IEEE, with its
standard approved in 2011 by IEEE as IEEE 802.15.7 is the most active one. The
standard of VLC (IEEE 802.15.7) specifies VLC consisting of mobile-to-mobile
(M2M), fixed-to-mobile (F2M) and infrastructure-to-mobile (I2M) communications.
The main purpose of VLC standard is to focus on medium-range communications for
intelligent traffic systems at low-speed and on shortrange mobile to mobile and fixed
to mobile communications at high speeds to exchange data.
Data rates are supported up to 1 Gbps using various modulation schemes. IEEE
802.15.7 defines physical layer (PHY) & media access control (MAC) layer for
VLC/Li-Fi.
The MAC layer supports 3 multi-access technologies: peer-to-peer, star configuration
and broadcast mode. It also handles physical layer management issues such as
addressing, collision avoidance and data acknowledgement protocols.
The physical layer is divided into 3 types: PHY I, II, III and employ a combination of
different modulation schemes.
• The PHY I was established for outdoor application and works from 11.67 kbps to
267.6 kbps. • The PHY II layer permits reaching data rates from 1.25 Mbit/s to 96
Mbit/s.
• The PHY III is used for many emissions sources with a particular modulation method
called colour shift keying (CSK). PHY III can deliver rates from 12 Mbit/s to 96 Mbit/s.
The modulation formats recognized for PHY I and PHY II are on-off keying (OOK)
and variable pulse position modulation (VPPM). The Manchester coding used for the
PHY I and PHY II layers includes the clock inside the transmitted data by representing
a logic 0 with an OOK symbol "01" and a logic 1 with an OOK symbol "10", all with
a DC component.
The DC component avoids light extinction in case of an extended run of logic 0's. There
are also two Japanese standards for VLC networking (JEITA CP-1221 and CP-1222).

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 7. APPLICATIONS OF LI-FI:

There are numerous applications of Li-Fi technology, from public Internet access
through existing lighting (LED) to auto-piloted cars that communicate through their
headlights (LED based). Applications of Li-Fi can extend in areas where the Wi-Fi
technology lacks its presence like aircrafts and hospitals (operation theatres), power
plants and various other areas, where electromagnetic (Radio) interference is of great
concern for safety and security of equipments and people. Since Li-Fi uses just the light,
it can be used safely in such locations or areas. In future with the Li-Fi enhancement all
the street lamps can be transformed to Li-Fi connecting points to transfer data. As a
result of it, it will be possible to access internet at any public place and street.
Some of the future applications of Li-Fi could be as follows:
a) Education systems: Li-Fi is the latest technology that can provide fastest speed for
Internet access. So, it can augment/replace Wi-Fi at educational institutions and at
companies so that the people there can make use of Li-Fi with the high speed.
b) Medical Applications: Operation theatres (OTs) do not allow Wi-Fi due to radiation
concerns. Usage of Wi-Fi at hospitals interferes/blocks the signals for monitoring
equipments. So, it may have hazardous effect to the patient's health, due to improper
working of medical apparatus. To overcome this and to make OT tech savvy Li-Fi can
be used to access internet and also to control medical equipments. This will be
beneficial for conducting robotic surgeries and other automated procedures.
c) Cheaper Internet in Aircrafts: The passengers travelling in aircrafts get access to low
speed Internet that too at a very high price. Also Wi-Fi is not used because it may
interfere with the navigational systems of the pilots. In aircrafts Li-Fi can be used for
data transmission. Li-Fi can easily provide high speed Internet via every light source
such as overhead reading bulb, etc. present inside the airplane.
d) Underwater applications: Underwater ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles) operate
from large cables that supply their power and allow them to receive signals from their
pilots above. But the tether used in ROVs is not long enough to allow them to explore
larger areas. If their wires were replaced with light — say from a submerged,
highpowered lamp — then they would be much freer to explore. They could also use
their headlamps to communicate with each other, processing data autonomously and
sending their findings periodically back to the surface. Li-Fi can even work underwater
where Wi-Fi fails completely, thereby throwing open endless opportunities for military
underwater operations.
e) Disaster management: Li-Fi can be used as a powerful means of communication in
times of disaster such as earthquake or hurricanes. The average people may not know
the protocols during such disasters. Subway stations and tunnels, common dead zones
for most emergency communications, pose no obstruction for Li-Fi.

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 f) Applications in sensitive areas: Power plants need fast, inter-connected data systems
so that demand, grid integrity and core temperature (in case of nuclear power plants)
can be monitored. The Radio communication interference is considered to be bad for
such sensitive areas surrounding these power plants. Li-Fi can offer safe, abundant
connectivity for all areas of these sensitive locations. Also, the pressure on a power
plant 12 ‘s own reserves (power consumption for Radio communications deployments)
will be lessened.
g) Traffic management: In traffic signals Li-Fi can be used to communicate with
passing vehicles (through the LED lights of the cars etc) which can help in managing
the traffic in a better manner resulting into smooth flow of traffic and reduction in
accident numbers. Also, LED car lights can alert drivers when other vehicles are too
close.
h) Mobile Connectivity: Mobiles, laptops, tablets, and other smart phones can easily
connect with each other. The short-range network of Li-Fi can yield exceptionally high
data rates and higher security.
i) Replacement for other technologies: Li-Fi doesn‘t work using radio waves. So, it can
be easily used in the places where Bluetooth, infrared, Wi-Fi, etc. are banned.

6.1 USE CASES:

The pure Li-Fi, which is a UK based company, claims to be one of the leading
companies in Li-Fi technology, having the following VLC products as on date: Li-
Flame Ceiling Unit to connect to an LED light fixture and Li-Flame Desktop Unit
which connects to a device via USB, both aiming to provide light and connectivity in
one device. Li-Fi X, claims to be evolution of the world’s first Li-Fi system, the Li-
Flame.
The system offers a fully networked Li-Fi solution which supports multiple access,
roaming, complete mobility and ease of use – providing a level of user experience that
is comparable and more secure than existing wireless technologies i.e. Wi-Fi. The Li-
Fi-X delivers high data densities and eliminates unwanted external network intrusion.
In addition, the merger of illumination with wireless communications claims to provide
a measurable reduction in both infrastructure complexity and energy consumption.
Li-Fi-X apparently delivers: -
• Full duplex communication with a 40Mbps downlink and 40Mbps uplink; • Full
mobility (portable, USB-powered station)
• Multiple users per Li-Fi Access Point, supported through multiple access
• Secure wireless communications constrained by walls, eliminating the risk of signal
leakage to external eavesdroppers
• Safe wireless communication in environments where radio frequencies are not
suitable

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Li-Fi-X Access Point (AP)
• Support for Power over Ethernet (PoE) or Power Line Communications (PLC)

• Simple installation

• Connect to a wide range of LED light fixture to form an atto-cell

• Multiple access • Handover control enables seamless switching between APs b)
Li-Fi-X Station (STA)
• USB 2.0 powered

a) GEO Li-Fi-:Indoor Location Based Services: GEO Li-Fi, a high efficiency

dimmable LED driver combined to an Indoor Positioning System (IPS) and works
as a Li-Fi broadcast system. With GEO Li-Fi, the LED lightings in a building can
be converted into a true Indoor Positioning System or IPS. An IPS is a system to
locate objects or people inside a building. Based on the indoor map, it allows to
create Location Based Services like: mobile marketing via digital place-based
media that communicates with consumers on the move, Shoppers can locate
objects with ease, and also call for service when needed, person purchasing a
printer can be guided to ink cartridges available at a discounted rate, physical
tracking of a customer inside a store yields useful information on behaviour,
Storage, stock-keeping and retrieval of stock keeping units become easier.

b) Li-Fi NET - Unlimited bandwidth for connecting people and IoT: Li-Fi NET is
a solution which is a combination of a high efficiency dimmable LED driver with
a bidirectional Li-Fi communication for people and IoT. It allows a highly secure
and private bidirectional communication for the Internet of Things (IoT). This
system is designed to take care of major obstacles with regards to unleashing the
potential of the Internet of Things namely - high energy consumption and leak of
connectivity. The company also claims to have developed the first Light Fidelity
enabled car using Li-Fi technology for car to car communication in the year 2007
and had equipped the first public space in the world (a Museum in Europe) with
Li-Fi technology in the year 2012. 14 Li-Fi is also reportedly being tested in Dubai,
by UAE-based telecommunications provider, du and Zero1. Du claims to have
successfully provided internet, audio and video streaming over a Li-Fi connection.

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 8. FUTURE SCOPE
As light is everywhere and free to use, there is a great scope for the use and
evolution of LiFi technology. If this technology becomes mature, each Li-Fi bulb
can be used to transmit wireless data. As the Li-Fi technology becomes popular, it
will lead to a cleaner, greener, safer communications and have a bright future and
environment. The concept of Li-Fi is deriving many people as it is free (require no
license) and faster means of data transfer. If it evolves faster, people will use this
technology more and more.

Li-Fi Roadmap:

Fig 8: Li-Fi Roadmap

Currently, LBS (location Based Service) or Broadcast solution are commercially

available. The next step could be a Li-Fi WLAN for B2B market with high added
value on specific business cases and could grow towards mass market. In the long
term, the Li-Fi could become an alternative solution to radio for wireless high data
rate room connectivity and new adapted service, such as augmented or virtual
reality.

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 9.CONCLUSION

Although there’s still a long way to go to make this technology a commercial

success, it promises a great potential in the field of wireless internet. A significant
number of researchers 15 and companies are currently working on this concept,
which promises to solve the problem of lack of radio spectrum, space and low
internet connection speed. By deployment of this technology, we can migrate to
greener, cleaner, safer communication networks. The very concept of Li-Fi
promises to solve issues such as, shortage of radio-frequency bandwidth and
eliminates the disadvantages of Radio communication technologies. Li-Fi is the
upcoming and growing technology acting as catalyst for various other developing
and new inventions/technologies. Therefore, there is certainty of development of
future applications of the Li-Fi which can be extended to different platforms and
various walks of human life.

*****

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