Pieter Hermans: Welcome back JakajimaTV. Today, I have an interview with Mark Fleschen. He is the chairman of the Light Communications Alliance. So welcome Mark, thank you very much for being here. Let's start immediately. Can you explain to us the motivation for a light communication line and how it was created and why it exists?
Mark Fleschen: The reason behind the Light Communication Alliance is to actually help promoting light communication technology and overall, educate the market about this technology, how we operate, how it works, the benefits and how it could be implemented. So, the main reason we decided to create this LCA was definitely to be able to do market education and promote by default I mean use cases, white paper and gather an ecosystem on this technology in particular.
Pieter Hermans: Okay. And this alliance consists of members, so could you tell us a bit about the broadness of the members you have.
Mark Fleschen: Here now the LCA was officially created in December of 2019. Since then, we have had different groups of companies that joined the LCA. The companies that joined from the very beginning are founding members, and they are well known companies such as Orange, pureLiFi, Nokia Bell Labs, which is part of it, the IMT, Zero1. And then we have strategic members that newly joined the FCA after it's been officially created and we have also very prominent companies such as Signify, Oledcomm that join the LCA lately and the PLC is working for membership fees so it's an annual membership fees and that you access monthly meetings, quarterly meeting, Annual General Meeting, access to white paper on even participation to whitepaper.
Pieter Hermans: And what is the scope exactly, because in light communication is for the standard person very vague. So, could you explain a bit what it is and what is the technology scope?
Mark Fleschen: Officially, the three different angles that the light communication is working on as of today is FSO which stands for Free Space Optics, which is a technology that we know and has been existing for now, a little bit while even though it's not the technology that we focus on as many of the key partners are actually into LIFI, which is then using visible and invisible light that comes for free bidirectional network system which is basically Internet access by visible and invisible light and the third one, which is OCC which is another technology which is more very low data right you need a directional system, which is basically a broadcast system that light can be sending data and be received by CMOS which is basically your camera off a mobile device, which is those three aspects are that we expect that is your scope of work of the LCA.
Pieter Hermans: Okay so OCC stands for optical camera communication,
Mark Fleschen: This is correct.
Pieter Hermans: So, what are the, when you start talking about the technological scope, what are the key advantages of light communication?
Mark Fleschen: Well, light communication first and foremost the most important part of the LCA message is that the light communication and LIFI are actually alongside with any other technology, I mean, the light communication is not here to replace or to compete with any type of radiofrequency technology or any other type of technologies. Light communication has a lot of benefits due to his physical aspects. For example, security is one of them because the beam of light and the dimension of the beam offline makes it very hard to intercept because you are between two different points. It has a greener spectrum energy because obviously, it's using light which is sometimes already in place. And the third one is audio frequency, which is again based on the physical aspect of light communication in general. So those aspects make that a larger bandwidth, a low latency and actually can bring much more physical benefits to services where other technologies such as audio frequencies based technologies cannot access.
Pieter Hermans: Okay. And could you mention or could you give some examples like use cases where other technologies cannot be used?
Mark Fleschen: Well, for example, hospital is one of them. I mean, if you talk about hospital or hospital in general are not the best place for our radiomagnetics or electromagnetics and LIFI therefore would have a huge benefits in the Industry 4.0, car to car communications, smart cities, V to X on V two infrastructure and education, education is the reason behind is that schools have a very specific type of place. And obviously, sometimes communication could actually bring a lot of benefits.
Pieter Hermans: Okay, okay. So a broad range of applications or possible.
Mark Fleschen: Yes, use cases, mainly, we focus on the most useful ones as well as implementing the technology and the most obvious one, obviously, like education and the hospital and the Industry 4.0, which are very well known to have very specific needs.
Pieter Hermans: Okay. And so if I am a CEO of a company, why should I, why should I become a member of the Light Communication Alliance, and why is it good for me?
Mark Fleschen: The good thing about the Light Communication Alliance, it's that we create an ecosystem of a lot of different partners and the range of partners are very wide. Obviously, there are LIFI key partners, which are LIFI vendors and manufacturers. We have the manufacturers, we have people in Quantum Cryptography, and we have mobile, and manufacturer or terminal manufacturers or device manufacturers. So obviously, if you want to be part of a new generation of technology, such as light communication, and you are looking for an ecosystem, where you can have access to partners that obviously could sometimes need you. It's definitely a good place to be because you've got access to a really wide range of ideas here from applications to solutions oriented. This is where you can benefit.
Pieter Hermans: I understand that light communication is really your passion. So, can you explain to me why you have this passion? What was special about this technology,
Mark Fleschen: The technology is really something that personally passionate is the passion, passion of me, because I've been I've been seeing technologies and there is multiple cycle that was 20 years ago in that context and that technological cycle, and now we're going through another cycle again, and more than ever, this period of time, I think the main problem we have is the pressure on infrastructure and more than ever we go through a lot of different problematics such as as energy efficiency, sustainability and more pressure on technology right now, because there is so much more coming like cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, but the problem is that the infrastructure has been optimised but we haven't really inventing something new in the past 20 years. We optimise something which was already existing, but the pressure is even more up to date. And those concerned make that light communication a huge opportunity because obviously, it has a larger, wider bandwidth. It's Lightspeed and it's green. And when you look at all the advantages of light communications, you just wonder why it's not going to be the one of the answers to today's problems and to these problems are bigger than they were 20 years ago.
Pieter Hermans: Okay. And is there also a specific, let's say, geo political reason also?
Mark Fleschen: I think for the first time, we have the opportunity in Europe to have a huge ecosystem there is many, many companies which are already part of the LCA such as Signify, Oledcomm, pureLiFi and we have a nest in Europe which is really well advanced right now in like communication and of course, we are including Wi-Fi international companies but behind it we have so many companies in Europe right now so well advanced. So many companies working alongside, we have a huge advantage right now at European level and we want to promote that and so we want to really gather all those companies and try to push it because we have a European advantage currently in light communication and that has to be promoted as well.
Pieter Hermans: Okay. Well, thank you very much, Mark for your explanation of the light communication line and look forward to hearing more about it at the upcoming Li-Fi conference. So thank you very much.
Light Communication Alliance
The Light Communication Alliance (LCA) is the authority on light communication. The LCA states that they are the most extensive light communications alliance in the world, a recognised leader. They are building demand for light communication through collaboration. As an alliance, they leverage partnerships between industry leaders to validate use cases and build functioning ecosystems. With the aim of ultimately inspiring global investment in light communication.
The LCA is an open, non-profit association of members who aim to promote Light Communications technology with a consistent, focused and concise approach. The LCA highlights the benefits, use cases and timelines for Light Communications adoption. The organisation aligns innovative leaders across the industries that light and communications touches, defining standards for education, communication, and interoperability.
The founding members of the LCA are Nokia, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du), Liberty Global, Lucibel, pureLiFi, LiFi Research & Development Centre, Velmenni, Zero.1, CEA Leti, and Institut Mines-Télécom.
Light Communication technologies include Light Fidelity (LiFi) and Optical Camera Communications (OCC) both of which have been attracting increased attention over recent years within several industries, such as smart cities and homes, industry 4.0 and manufacturing environments, as well as retail and tourism.
Global Market Insights predicts that the LiFi market will be worth $75 billion by 2025, creating broad, far-reaching opportunities for the related industries to benefit from Visible Light Communications.
Founding Members of the LCA
Nokia
Nokia creates the technology to connect the world. They develop and deliver the industry’s only end-to-end portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing that is available globally. Their customers include communications service providers whose combined networks support 6.1 billion subscriptions, as well as enterprises in the private sector and public sector that use their network portfolio to increase productivity and enrich lives.
Through their research teams, including the world-renowned Nokia Bell Labs, they are leading the world to adopt end-to-end 5G networks that are faster, more secure and capable of revolutionizing lives, economies and societies. Nokia adheres to the highest ethical business standards as they create technology with social purpose, quality and integrity.
nokia.com
pureLiFi
pureLiFi is a Light Communications company that was founded by Prof. Harald Haas and Dr Mostafa Afgani in 2012 as a spin out of the University of Edinburgh. pureLiFi offers both LiFi systems and Gigabit LiFi light antennas to OEM’s for integration. The company formed in response to the exponential growth in global demand for wireless bandwidth. pureLiFi has grown its international customer base with more than 130 deployments of LiFi in over 24 countries. The firm has also secured international partnerships with organisations such as Cisco, Wipro and O2 Telefonica.
pureLIFi.com
Zero.1
Zero.1 is a Hardware and Software provider specialising in Optical Camera Communication founded in 2016. Through its unique driver, any LED can become compatible, a simple app downloadable on the IOS and Android Store will allow cameras of mobiles devices to receive OCC signal, Zero.1 provides Cloud and services associated such as but not limited to, Indoor positioning system, localisation based services, geolocalised information’s, crowd management and data analytics etc.
zero1.zone
du
Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du) is a vibrant and multiple award-winning telecommunications service provider in the United Arab Emirates serving 9 million individual customers with its mobile, fixed-line, broadband internet, and Home services over its 4G LTE network. du also caters to over 100,000 UAE businesses with its vast range of ICT and managed services.
du.ae/personal
Velmenni
Velmenni has been working on LiFi Technology for the past 5 years. It has achieved multiple research and development milestones within Optical Wireless Communication including the development of the Optical Wireless Mesh Network. Today, Velmenni’s main focus is on the optimisation of speed, efficiency and seamless connectivity within the LiFi domain. Having held successful runs of LiFi technology in multiple locations, we’re presently conducting pilot projects to utilise bidirectional Light Communication in diverse industrial conditions. The goal remains to integrate LiFi and Wi-Fi to create impeccable, efficient and productive networks.
velmenni.com
Lucibel
LUCIBEL is an innovative French group that designs and manufactures in France new generation LED lighting products and solutions. LUCIBEL is also a pioneer in the development and marketing of LiFi, a light internet access solution co-developed with its pureLiFi partner in Scotland.
lucibel.io
LiFi Research & Development Centre (LiFi R&D Centre)
The LiFi R&D Centre translates internationally leading fundamental research to high technology readiness levels and conducts research in collaboration with, and on behalf of the industry. It aims to accelerate society’s adoption of LiFi and emerging wireless technology through engagement with major industrial partners, to fully harness the commercial and innovative potential of LiFi, and to help establish a major new LiFi industry. The LiFi R&D Centre includes 40 researchers including three academics.
lifi-centre.com
IMT
Institut Mines-Télécom is a public institution dedicated to higher education and research for innovation in the fields of engineering and digital technology. Always tuned in to the economic world, it combines high academic and scientific legitimacy with close business relations and a unique positioning in 3 major transformations of the 21st century: Digital Affairs, Energy and Ecology, and Industry. Its training and research for innovation are conducted in the Mines and Télécom Graduate Schools under the supervision of the Minister for Industry and Electronic Communications, in two subsidiaries and in institutions that are associate partners or under contract. Institut Mines-Télécom is a founding member of the Industry of the Future Alliance. It has two Carnot labels for the quality of its research partnerships. Every year, around one hundred startup companies leave its incubators.
imt.fr
About Liberty Global
Liberty Global (NASDAQ: LBTYA, LBTYB and LBTYK) is the world’s largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in 10 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. They invest in the infrastructure and digital platforms that empower our customers to make the most of the video, internet and communications revolution. Their substantial scale and commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect 21 million customers subscribing to 45 million TV, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve 6 million mobile subscribers and offer Wi-Fi service through 12 million access points across our footprint.
In addition, Liberty Global owns 50% of VodafoneZiggo, a joint venture in the Netherlands with 4 million customers subscribing to 10 million fixed-line and 5 million mobile services, as well as significant investments in ITV, All3Media, ITI Neovision, Casa Systems, LionsGate, the Formula E racing series and several regional sports networks.
libertyglobal.com
CEA Leti
Leti, a technology research institute at CEA Tech, pioneers micro and nanotechnologies, tailoring differentiating applicative solutions that ensure competitiveness in a wide range of markets. Leti developed a high-speed bi-directional LiFi solution successfully transferred to Luciom, where each LED lamp can connect up to 15 users to the Internet. Leti is also conducting cutting-edge research on LED sources combined with advanced wireless communication processing targeting very high throughput LiFi systems.
leti-cea.com/cea-tech/leti/english
Li-Fi Conference 2022
