Photonic Networks Experts Prof. Volker Jungnickel & Dr. Christoph Kottke Interviewed by InnoVisions on LiFi Technology
Photonic Networks Experts Prof. Volker Jungnickel & Dr. Christoph Kottke Interviewed by InnoVisions on LiFi Technology
Last week, Prof. Dr. Volker Jungnickel and Dr. Christoph Kottke from Fraunhofer HHI were interviewed and asked hard questions by InnoVisions on LiFi.
ELIoT has shown that the underlying technologies are ready for commercial application. But what is still missing is a significant increase in awareness of the technology and the interest of the target groups that goes with it.
Reliability, low latency and bandwidths up to the gigabit range: these are the technological triad without which the Internet of Things cannot function satisfactorily. But what to do if 5G and WLAN on site do not provide the required performance? Will electronic devices and control systems then remain cut off from the Internet? Prof. Dr. Volker Jungnickel and Dr. Christoph Kottke from Fraunhofer HHI explain why and how it is possible to close these connection gaps with light.
Question 1: Almost all of us have tried Morse code with a flashlight and have found that this method is both tedious and extremely error-prone. You use the same basic principle in research into optical wireless communication at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI. But you claim that you can use it to outshine wireless solutions such as 5G and WLAN?
Jungnickel: “We don't just claim that, we have also proven it long ago. In fact, our Light Fidelity (LiFi) communication network is based on the simple principle of turning an LED or laser on and off very quickly. In contrast to Morse code, however, this is controlled by the latest digital technologies, so that the on/off processes can be controlled at extremely high speed and with absolute precision. With this technology and our transmitter/receiver modules, we can achieve transmissions with a data rate in the gigabit/s range, even with a simple setup with a ceiling light and the laptop on the desk. The only condition is a clear line of sight between them.”
Question 2: However, a WLAN network also offers comparable bandwidths. And that everywhere in the room - even without visual contact with the transmitting antenna. So, what is the advantage of LiFi?
Kottke: “Of course you can also establish broadband connections via WLAN. At least, as long as the number of access points and users is limited. Things look different in a training room, a workspace or a classroom: Here, the bandwidth of the radio network has to be shared among many people. Data-intensive applications are then hardly possible for the individual. You block each other. With LiFi, on the other hand, a separate gigabit connection can be easily set up for each workstation. And you solve the problem of an unobstructed view by distributing as many communication modules over the ceiling surface that line of sight is always possible.”
Jungnickel: “And the optical interface has other advantages: in terms of susceptibility to faults and data security, for example. If a robot in industry is controlled with light via LiFi, connection problems caused by interference with wireless connections working in parallel in its environment are ruled out. In addition, due to the system, it is not possible for a malicious jammer to attempt interference, nor for unnoticed hacking in, for example from the next room. Wireless networks are much more vulnerable in this regard.”
Nevertheless, LiFi networks are still hard to find in offices and industrial environments...
Jungnickel: “But that could change fundamentally in the next few years. The ELIoT project, funded by the European Commission, has key prerequisites for this. In this project, we have developed the LiFi technologies together with international partners from research and industry into a system concept that can be used for a wide variety of requirements and areas of application. And that works seamlessly with wireless and cable-based networks of all kinds. To do this, however, we had to ensure that all functionalities could be provided via a chipset. We have also integrated new procedures for the handover: You can now move from one LiFi spot to the next without losing your data connection. And when the connected IoT object leaves the LiFi environment, a seamless transition to a WiFi or cellular connection is possible.”
Kottke: “ELIoT provided us with important insights and inputs to establish internationally valid standards for the technology. All in all, LiFi has now reached a development stage that is no longer limited to individual, highly specific special applications, but is ready for the mass market. The ELIoT demonstrators that we have set up together with our project partners demonstrate how diverse the potential of optical wireless communication in the Internet of Things is.”
Question 3: These options include, for example, equipping training rooms or controlling industrial robots?
Kotke: “This is by far not everything. For example, think of the data connection of driverless transport vehicles in a logistics centre. They are seamlessly connected to their data centre via LiFi modules in the hall lighting. The LiFi installation itself can also be carried out wirelessly - via a line of sight from one module to the next. This enables quick reconfiguration, for example when the production environment or processes change. In addition, the optical interfaces can offer a special, additional feature for the operation of this Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV): Reliable and highly accurate position detection. Because the light signals propagate mainly directly along the line of sight, our newly developed LiFi positioning achieves an accuracy in the centimetre range. With a radio system, on the other hand, the waves spread mainly via detours and reflections in the room. Moving objects can be located using it in a correspondingly more complex and less precise manner.”
Jungnickel: “One of our demonstrators is addressing something completely different: A LiFi solution for the hotel industry is used here, in which guests can transfer the code to open the room door from their smartphone screen to the electronic lock. And in recreation rooms, from lounges to shopping malls, optical interfaces wirelessly supply information and entertainment screens with changing content. This is not only convenient, it also protects the WLAN, which can now be used entirely for other purposes.”
Question 4: So, your system is another connection option for indoor use in trade and industry, which should usually work in parallel with the WLAN?
Jungnickel: “Not only that. Our project partners are also testing optical wireless communication, for example in the area of broadband expansion. It should therefore be a cost-effective and powerful option in the wireless-to-the-home sector. LiFi closes the profitability gap over the last mile, or the last few meters, from the fibre optic or 5G infrastructure to a small radio cell or into buildings and apartments. From the lamppost on the sidewalk, the LiFi module provides the broadband connection through a window to its counterpart in the house or apartment. In many cases, a closed window is an unbridgeable barrier for wireless systems. But not for light. And the owners can save themselves the laying of a cable on their property.”
Kottke: “Inside the house, the Internet then reaches the living room TV, the home office, the basement and up to the roof via light, for example in combination with Powerline LiFi adapters. This is also one of the scenarios that have already been implemented in live operation in an ElioT demonstration.”
Question 5: Nevertheless, functioning demonstrators pave the way towards the mass market. Are you still a long way from reaching your goal?
Kottke: “That's not necessarily our job as researchers either: ELIoT has shown that the basic technologies are ready for commercial application. But what is still missing is a significant increase in awareness of the technology and the interest of the target groups that goes with it. ELIoT has brought together strong industrial partners within the consortium and beyond, who are now continuing on this path to establish LiFi in a wide variety of areas. We will continue to support them in this.”
Jungnickel : “The developments through the Internet of Things have only just begun. Wireless communication is an indispensable basis for this. However, wireless systems, including the latest developments in 5G and the next generation of mobile communications, are reaching their limits in many areas. Frequency jungle and disturbing interference are difficult to control when more and more IoT objects in buildings or outdoors should and must communicate reliably with the Internet and with each other. It is all the more important to be able to use different systems that can exploit their advantages appropriately depending on the situation. Data transmission with light is therefore a very sensible and efficient expansion of the usable technology portfolio for the Internet of Things. 5G, 6G, WiFi and LiFi are not competitors, they complement each other.”
Article source: https://www.fraunhofer-innovisions.de/iot-und-sensorik/mehr-licht-fuer-ein-besseres-internet-der-dinge/
ELIoT
As stated on their website, ELIoT is an EU Horizon 2020 project. It is led by the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute. The central aim of the project is the development of mass-market Internet of Things (IoT) solutions using LiFi, a next-generation wireless communication network, that travels over light instead of radio waves. With LiFi, the ELIoT consortium will explore a networked wireless communication technology operating in the previously unused light spectrum, besides WiFi and cellular radio.
ELIoT has started in 2019 as a project funded by the EU’s biggest Research and Innovation programme, Horizon 2020. This programme promises more breakthroughs by taking great ideas from lab to the market. ELIoT receives €6 million funding from the Public-Private Partnership ‘Photonics21’ and is formed by the partners Signify (formerly Philips Lighting), Nokia, MaxLinear, Deutsche Telekom, KPN, Weidmüller, LightBee, the University of Oxford, Eindhoven Technical University and the two Fraunhofer Institutes; Heinrich Hertz Institute and FOKUS. Even more, companies will shortly be added to the consortium as associated partners.
InnoVisions
InnoVisions reports on innovations and future technologies from the institutes of the Fraunhofer ICT group. The focus is not only on the visions, but also on the paths that technologies take from the idea to marketing. Dossiers summarize all content, experts and events on overarching topics.
The researchers and developers behind the developments also play an important role. InnoVisions also makes it easy to contact these experts. In many modern online formats in text, image, video and sound, the future magazine reports on research projects, places them in the larger context of the IT world, discusses current technical developments in the industry and thus makes it clear how the Fraunhofer Institutes Conduct research for the benefit of society.
Fraunhofer HHI
The Fraunhofer , Heinrich Hertz Institute, HHI, also known as Fraunhofer HHI or Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, is an organisation of the Fraunhofer Society based in Berlin. The institute engages in applied research and development in the fields of physics, electrical engineering and computer sciences.
The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute develops mobile and stationary broadband communication networks and multimedia systems. Focal points of independent and contract research conducted by Fraunhofer HHI are photonic components and systems, fiber optic sensor systems, and image signal processing and transmission. Future applications for broadband networks are developed as well. Research in this area focuses on 3D displays, UHD panorama video production, human-machine interaction through gesture control, optical satellite communication and data transmission technologies such as visible light communications.
Li-Fi Conference 2022
The Li-Fi Conference 2022 Edition was a great success. Li Fi Tech News will very soon write articles on the topics treated at the Conference.
What is LiFi?
LiFi, 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 LiFi demonstration at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Global Talk on Visible Light Communication (VLC).
VLC uses light as a medium to deliver high-speed communication like Wi-Fi and complies with the IEEE standard IEEE 802.15.7. The IEEE 802.15.7 is a high-speed, bidirectional, and fully networked wireless communication technology-based standard similar to Wi-Fi's IEEE 802.11.
How does LiFi work?
LiFi is a high speed, bidirectional, and fully networked wireless communication of data using light. LiFi constitutes of several light bulbs that form a wireless network.
When an electrical current goes through to a LED light bulb, a stream of light (photons) emits from the lamp. LED bulbs are semiconductor devices, which means that the brightness of the light flowing through them can change at extremely high speeds. The signal is sent by modulating the light at different rates. The signal can then be received by a detector that interprets the changes in light intensity (the signal) as data. Also when the LED is ON, you transmit a digital 1, and when it is OFF, you transmit a 0.
LiFi Benefits
The primary benefits of LiFi are as follows:
• Security: Provides entirely secure access. Where there is no light there is no data.
• Safety: Does not produce electromagnetic radiation and does not interfere with existing electronic systems.
• Localisation: Allows localisation due to the small coverage area of LiFi access point - localisation can be used for very precise asset tracking.
• Data density: Provides ubiquitous high-speed wireless access that offers substantially greater data density (data rate per unit area) than RF through high bandwidth reuse.
Credit to Oledcomm
LiFi Applications
LiFi can be used for so many applications and the list is increasing every year. You can read our updated list of Li-Fi applications at the following link:
Credit to pureLiFi
LiFi Systems Reviews by LiFi Tech News
OLEDCOMM LIFIMAX KIT REVIEW - ONE YEAR IN
We reviewed the LiFiMax kit produced by the leading French LiFi company Oledcomm. We bought this LiFi kit system at the end of 2020. After over a year of use, we decided to write a review of this LiFi system. We looked briefly at the profile of Oledcomm, a brief history of the LiFiMax system, the Kit box contents, some testing and performance results of this LiFi system, the customer experience and our own verdict (the good and the bad points) of the LiFiMax kit.
You can read the review on this link:
https://www.lifitn.com/blog/lifimaxreview
SIGNIFY TRULIFI 6002.1 STARTER KIT SYSTEM REVIEW
We also reviewed the Trulifi 6002.1 starter kit produced by Signify, the world leader in lighting for professionals, consumers and lighting for the Internet of Things. We got this LiFi kit system with the help of PCDSI and Signify around August 2021. In a similar fashion done with our previous review of the LiFiMax kit a few months ago, we will look briefly at the profile of Signify, a brief history of the Trulifi 6002.1 kit, the Kit box contents, some testing and performance results of this LiFi system, the customer experience and our own verdict (the good points and the bad points) of the Trulifi 6002.1 kit.
You can read the review on this link:
https://www.lifitn.com/blog/trulifi6002review
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