Li Fi: the upcoming market disruptor
Li Fi is a disruptive technology in the making, which will impact many industries. It can unlock the Internet of Things, drive Industry 4.0 applications, light as a service (LaaS) in the lighting industry, enable new intelligent transport systems, enhance road safety when there are more and more driverless cars, create new cyber secure wireless networks, enable new ways of health monitoring of aging societies, offer new solutions to close the digital divide, and enable very high-speed wireless connectivity in future datacentres.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers (UIDs) and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.
As the market for IoT devices continues to rise, faster and secure data transmission will be needed to cope with the demand. Our current infrastructure simply cannot handle the quantity of data that will need to be transmitted if the IoT continues to grow at predicted rates.
Li-Fi will help reducing the issues we’re expecting to run into around spectrum as more and more connected devices in cities transfer critical data that can enhance decision-making. Li-Fi will also help in transmitting big data from connected devices in a secure and faster rate than Wi-Fi.
Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 is the stage where automation and data exchanges are occurring in manufacturing industry. This include cyber physical systems, the Internet of Things, cloud computing and cognitive computing. Industry 4.0 is also known as the 4th industrial revolution.
A Li-Fi communication channel is especially suited for machine-to-machine communication. Due to low Li-Fi latency times, it is possible to match sensor and actuator data to avoid collisions or coordinate complex interactions of different robot arms.
As there is a growing focus on human to machine interaction, digitalisation optimisation in different industries needs solutions such as measured values and control commands to be transmitted in real time. Li-Fi technology offers the security of cable solutions with the flexibility of wireless systems. Li-Fi also enables the extension of existing infrastructure through a self-sufficient communication channel, eliminating exorbitant installation costs. This is particularly helpful in cases where traditional technologies are already busy with other applications or where strong electromagnetic interactions make is impossible to use radio systems. Li-Fi will be one of the most cost effective solutions for the requirements of industry 4.0
Light as a Service (LaaS)
Light as a Service is a light service delivery model charged on a subscription basis rather than one-time payment. It is an emerging and growing energy market trend where businesses pay monthly fees to a company that retrofits the building with energy-efficient lighting.
Li-Fi will play an important role in LaaS in the many years to come. Nearly two decades ago, the first mobile phones served only one purpose and that was mobile telephony. Since 2007, smartphones do not only offer mobile telephony but serve hundreds of applications as well. Similarly, light bulbs today serve one purpose: lighting. Within the next 5 years, LED light bulbs will offer countless applications and will be an integral part of the emerging smart cities, smart homes, the Internet of Things (IoT), and LaaS will be the dominating theme. Li-Fi will be “pulled” into the lighting industry by new business models.
Professor Harald Haas said “LaaS in combination with Li-Fi will, therefore provide a business model driven “pull” for the lighting industry to enter what has traditionally been a wireless communications market. It is therefore conceivable that the wireless industry and the lighting industry will merge into one”.