Light fidelity, or Li-Fi, was introduced with the recent implementation of IEEE 802.11bb, ushering in a new age of wireless communication for cutting-edge Wi-Fi technology. Li-Fi makes it possible for Wi-Fi to send and receive data using light waves rather than radio frequencies.
The IEEE 802.11bb standard establishes the guidelines for Li-Fi device communication and data transmission speed. These devices should be able to transmit and receive data at a rate of between 10 megabits per second and 9.6 gigabits per second, according to the standard.
Li-Fi makes use of specialized lighting fixtures with solid-state light emitters, photosensitive receivers, and compact control units. Light waves can be used by the fixtures to transmit and receive data. Smartphones, tablets, and other devices that can transmit and receive light signals need emitters and sensors in order to connect to Li-Fi. The emitters and sensors are already being used by sophisticated mobile phones for other purposes including lidar and facial recognition.
In an average installation, a local area network is used to connect to the Internet. LANs can now provide a new wireless access option with Li-Fi-enabled access points (APs) that are placed in places like ceilings or inside desk lamps. These offer a smooth, reliable wireless experience and allow bidirectional connectivity with battery-powered devices.
The fact that Li-Fi enables peak speeds by encoding data into light waves using the same cutting-edge modulation methods as Wi-Fi is one of the main drivers propelling its popularity. There is reduced interference from Doppler, multipath, phase noise, and other sources in the optical wireless transmission channel. It is able to achieve the fastest speeds using an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing variation of multicarrier modulation. Multiple parallel data streams are sent via subcarriers using OFDM. Li-Fi achieves previously unheard-of data transfer speeds over short distances – typically within a single room – by taking advantage of the characteristics of light.