Using LED Light to Build Wireless Networks

UK telecom giant O2 is using solid-state lighting to transmit data wirelessly.

The early trials use LED light to “send large amounts of data, while appearing as white light to the human eye. The result is a high-speed, bi-directional and fully networked wireless communication of data,” claims O2’s co-conspirator, pureLiFi.

O2 applies LED bulbs to pureLiFi's LiFi-XC system to provide wireless connectivity via “LiFi,” a form of Optical Wireless Communications (OWC) that includes infrared, ultraviolet, and visible light.

And while the tech is still young, pureLiFi claims it’s a “safer, more reliable and more secure wireless data communication than Wi-Fi.”

I needn’t emphasize how important cybersecurity is to a tech landscape barreling towards the Internet of Things.

On Wednesday, O2 used nine LiFi-enabled LED light bulbs to demo the LiFi tech at the company’s Slough headquarters. The results were intriguing....

“With the proliferation of internet-of-things devices and continued growth in mobile users, the demand for spectrum is under increasing pressure. LiFi is capable of unlocking unprecedented and much-needed data and bandwidth,” said Alistair Banham, CEO of pureLiFi.

pureLiFi is also highlighting the potential reduction in infrastructure complexity and energy consumption.

Read more about this here: https://purelifi.com/o2-uses-light-to-transmit-data-in-latest-network-trial/