Latécoère, Signify, and Huneed Technologies Announce Strategic Partnership on Li-Fi Implementation in Commercial Aircraft

Latécoère

Latécoère, the partner of "Tier 1" of major international aircraft manufacturers, is pleased to announce the transition to the industrialisation of its Li-Fi technology, through a memorandum of agreement signed with Signify.

" The Paris Air Show 2019 allowed Latécoère to show the power and speed of Li-Fi. Our technology, which illustrates our leading position in terms of innovation, has raised high expectations from the market and is now ready to take the next step, says Yannick Assouad, CEO of Latécoère. Signify and Huneed Technologies will open new horizons and new opportunities to Li-Fi, that its use is widespread in aircraft cabins. "

The Li-Fi technology allows a connectivity experience onboard a higher aircraft in terms of bandwidth, latency and stability. Another advantage of Li-Fi is that it does not interfere with sensitive equipment and that the connection is not affected by the movements of the aircraft. Li-Fi also reduces cabling and, coupled with an infrastructure upgrade to low-weight fibre optic solutions, will reduce the weight and fuel consumption of the plane.

Increasing the power of Li-Fi with the Trulifi system developed by Signify

Signify launched its Trulifi systems earlier this year and has installed around 100 projects worldwide. The Trulifi combines energy-efficient LED lighting with reliable, secure and high-speed wireless bi-directional connection, with speeds of up to 250 Mbps for the downlink and uplink.

" Through this partnership, Signify, and Latécoère will transform the passenger cabin experience by providing them with the latest connectivity technology," said Olivia Qiu, Director of Innovation at Signify. The Trulifi has enormous potential, and our ambition is, in addition to aircraft, to also provide this technology to other forms of public transport, so that users have access to a reliable, secure and fast Internet connection, wherever they are."

As a first step, Trulifi will be used to connect the media players of the headrests. In a second phase, the Li-Fi will allow passengers to connect their devices to embedded media and the Internet, but also to interact with each other and to have the same connectivity experience onboard is on the ground.

Start of the industrialisation phase with Huneed Technologies

Huneed Technologies, a South Korean expert on tactical communications equipment and aerospace, became the third partner in the industrialisation of ' Li-Fi infrastructure in rooms Latécoère. The group will jointly develop with Latécoère for the development and production of the passenger distribution unit and the fibre optic router.

" We are thrilled to be recognised by Latécoère for our expertise in communication technology and knowledge production in the context of this innovative partnership," said Eugene Kim, President of ' Huneed Technologies. This opportunity is a perfect fit with our growth strategy to globally expand our business in the aerospace to ' commercial aviation. Huneed will supply Li-F's electronics and data communications software to enable widespread adoption of this technology, which will play a critical role in the next generation of smart booths to deliver the best possible passenger experience. "

About Latécoère

Latécoère is a Tier 1 partner of major international aircraft manufacturers (Airbus, Embraer, Dassault, Boeing and Bombardier), in all segments of the aeronautical market (commercial, regional, business and military aircraft), in two areas:

• Aerostructures (58% of total turnover): fuselage sections and doors.

• Interconnect systems (42% of total revenue): embedded cabling, bundles electric and avionics bays.

As of December 31, 2018, Latécoère employed 4,958 people in 13 different countries. Latécoère, a public limited company with a capital of 189,637,036 euros divided into 94,818,518 shares with a par value of 2 euros, is listed on Euronext Paris - compartment B. ISIN codes: FR000000032278 - Reuters: LAEP.PA - Bloomberg: LAT. FP

About Signify

Signify (Euronext: LIGHT) is the world leader in lighting for professionals and individuals and lighting for the Internet of Things. Our Philips products, Interact connected lighting systems and data-driven services deliver business value and transform lives in homes, buildings and public spaces. With a turnover of 6.4 billion euros in 2018, we have around 27,000 employees and are present in more than 70 countries. We unlock the extraordinary potential of light for brighter lives and a better world.

About Huneed

Huneed Technologies, a long-time developer and manufacturer of tactical wireless communications systems for the South Korean military, is now ready to manufacture avionics hardware and become a global provider of maintenance, repair and overhaul services.

Over the last ten years, Huneed Technologies has gone from being a company to becoming a leading global supplier to Boeing Defense and Space. Prestigious achievements, including the Boeing Performance Excellence Award 2016 and a Boeing Supplier of the Year nomination, punctuated Huneed's reputation as a trusted global aviation supplier.

Huneed's strategic and measured growth in the aerospace market has allowed it to become the partner of choice for some of the world's largest aerospace companies.

Conclusion

Li-Fi will allow passengers to access a much higher level of bandwidth than the one currently provided by Wi-Fi. Passengers will access faster internet connection, download and stream content at the comfort of their seats.

Professor Haas said: “This technology is perfect for planes as it doesn’t interfere with radio signals in the same way as Wi-Fi, which uses radio waves. Instead, Li-Fi takes advantage of visible light.”

“Li-Fi is a game-changer for three reasons. First, it solves a ‘congestion’ issue. In the data-driven world that we live in, we are running out of radio spectrum. This is a problem in crowded places like airports and aircraft interiors as it means that the current available bandwidth does not support the hundreds of people wishing to use data-intensive applications and the internet in the same place at the same time. Li-Fi solves this issue by using 1,000 times the bandwidth compared with the entire radio frequency spectrum. This is additional free, unregulated bandwidth in the visible light spectrum.

“Second, it paves the way for local-area networks to be established, which means that passengers can make calls, use the internet and access in-flight entertainment systems more easily.

“Third, in a world fast being dominated by big data, safeguarding information is paramount. In the cabin, although Li-Fi signals can leak through windows, the technology offers greater protection to passengers than a Wi-Fi connection. But the biggest gains will be experienced by OEMs. Their manufacturing halls often have lots of LED lighting and few windows, which will enhance data security in their facilities.”

12 Misconceptions of Li-Fi

"The trouble with the world is not that people know too little; it's that they know so many things that just aren't so."

Welcome to the official blog of Li-Fi Tech News.

Today's article will be about the common misconceptions of Li-Fi technology that you may or may not have heard. But first, what is Li-Fi?

Li-Fi, also known as "Light Fidelity" is a wireless optical networking technology, which uses light emitting diodes (LEDs) to transmit data. In 2011, professor Harald Haas made a Li-Fi demonstration at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference.

LiFi is a high speed, bidirectional, and fully networked wireless communication of data using light. Li-Fi is made of several light bulbs that form a wireless network. In simple words, Li-Fi is the internet through Light. Watch the video below to see how Li-Fi works.

Here is a list of 12 Misconceptions of Li-Fi technology.

1- It interferes with radio frequency

Radio Frequency Technology like Wi-Fi can be disturbed by a variety of devices such as smartphones, cordless phones, microwaves and other Wi-Fi networks. Li-Fi uses the visible light spectrum, which operates at a higher frequency than the Radio Waves spectrum and hence does not interfere with Wi-Fi. Because of this, Li-Fi can be used in hospitals, air planes and power plants without the fear of interference from radio frequency devices.

2 – It is less secure than Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

In contrast to Wi-Fi, light does not go through walls and can easily be contained in a physical space. This gives the opportunity of creating secure ad-hoc networks in meeting rooms which can allow participants to share data without the risk of data leaking out. Some designated rooms can be used as high-security areas with their own Li-Fi networks, isolating them from other areas of the building where there might be connection of vulnerable Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

PureLiFi is currently developing the security components and technologies that will help security specialists and consultants deliver more secure wireless communications.

3 – It will never be made affordable to the average consumer

Again, this is another misconception. Although, the Li Fi products can be very expensive ranging from £2500 to £5000, in terms of cost, a number of companies are working towards the miniaturisation of Li-Fi products to make it affordable for everyone and not just businesses.

4 – Just like Wi-Fi, Li-Fi will function in our pockets

Well, unless your clothes allow light to pass through them, Li-Fi will not work if a Li-Fi enabled device is in your pocket. The Li-Fi receiver on the device must be exposed to a Li-Fi ready LED light.

5 – Li-Fi is truly a disruptive technology

Hold on, let us first look up the definition of disruptive technology”. A disruptive technology is defined as a technology displacing an established technology shaking up an entire industry or ground-breaking product that creates a completely new industry. Examples of disruptive technologies are Peer-to-Peer ride-sharing platforms like Uber and Lyft. Netflix, a subscription based streaming service, can also be considered a disruptive technology. Li-Fi will work in conjunction with existing Wi-Fi networks to provide faster and more secure internet and data transmissions. So, Li-Fi should not be considered a disruptive technology just yet.

6 – Li-Fi won’t work in the dark

It is true that any Li-Fi receiver would need switched on LED lights to receive data transmission. This means Li-Fi technology cannot be used in dark rooms. However, a possible solution to solve this problem is to dim LEDs low enough so that our eyes can’t see them.

A team of researchers, from Dartmouth College in the United States, are currently working on a project to encode data into ultra-short and imperceptible light impulses. The project is called “DarkLight”.

Check the video below:

You can also read an abstract from their paper here.

7 – There is currently only one company that is commercialising Li-Fi

It is true that pureLiFi was the first company that coined the term Li-Fi, where Professor Harald Haas performed a demonstration at the Global TED talk conference in July 2011. This resulted in the formation of a number of new Li-Fi companies that are currently working towards the commercialisation of Li-Fi technology.

Oledcomm is a spin off from the University of Versailles based on research on Visible light communication that begun in 2005.

VLNComm is a leading company in Visible Light Communication (VLC) or so called Li-Fi Technology, which is an alternative data communication technique for wireless applications that uses optical energy to provide illumination and data transmission at the same time.

8- Li-Fi cannot work under sunlight

This is not the case. It is generally assumed by many people that Li-Fi cannot work under sunlight conditions. The use of optical filters will enable Li-Fi to work outdoors without interference from any natural or artificial sources. These filters reduce receiver saturation. Analogue and digital filtering can also be used to minimise the level of interference. PureLiFi stated that Li-Fi relies on detecting the fast changes in light intensity and not on the absolute or slowly varying levels caused by natural disruptions in daylight or sunlight. Li-Fi Technology modulates the light at very high rates whilst the sunlight acts as a constant light source which can be filtered out at the receiver.

9 – The LED lights used to transmit data, have a very short lifespan

In contrast to incandescent light bulbs, LED light bulbs have a general lifespan of around 50,000 hours. In other words, if used for 12 hours a day, the LED light bulb will last at least 11 years. If used for 8 hours a day, the LED light bulb can last for 17 years. As we can see, LED lights can have a very long lifespan.

10 – You can’t use Li-Fi in remote areas or in villages where living conditions are extremely poor and limited

Well, that is not the case. In April 2017 in a village located near Liberia, a company called Li-Fi Led Côte d’Ivoire installed solar panels to provide permanent lighting to its residents. They also provided LED installation to the entire village. Through these LED light bulbs, the residents have access to the internet and television without any wire or Wi-Fi connection thanks to Li-Fi Technology. Li-Fi can operate in remote areas with the right equipment. Watch the video below:

You can also read the article about this story here

11 – Li-Fi is not a bi-directional technology

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, bi-directional means involving, moving or taking place in two opposite directions. Generally, a Li-Fi system is made of Trans-receivers where one receiver is at the SOURCE and the other one is at the DESTINATION. When the light flickers, the Trans-receiver senses the changes at the Destination point through a photo diode which decrypts the data.

PureLiFi defines Li-Fi as a bi-directional wireless communications technology that allows high speed transmissions in both uplink and downlink simultaneously.

12 - Li-Fi is strictly a line of sight technology

Line of sight can be defined as electromagnetic radiation or acoustic wave propagation travelling in a direct path from a source to a receiver. In simpler terms, it is electro-magnetic waves travelling in a straight line. Because light can bounce off of a surface, Li-Fi cannot be fully considered a line of sight technology. With a direct line of sight, a very fast rate of communication can be achieved but when light bounces off of a wall and other objects, the rate of communication will be lowered. PureLiFi states that "Li-Fi is a cellular communication system and the data rate is not dependent on the line of sight but on the signal quality at the device. Signal quality can be defined by the ratio of the desired data vs any interfering data and noise."

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Latécoère, Signify and Huneed Technologies Announce Strategic Partnership on Li-Fi Implementation in Commercial Aircraft