BBC Knowledge Asia Edition

called Jugnu that’s capable of two-way

data transmission at speeds of up to

one gigabit per second (Gbps) – nearly 100

times faster than standard Wi-Fi.

Velmenni’s bulb uses VLC – visible light

communication. Essentially, it’s like sending

Morse code signals with a torch, only much,

much faster: an LED flashes on and off

at super-high speeds to create a series of

‘1s and 0s’. These pulses occur much too

quickly to be registered by the naked eye,

but they’re easily decipherable by any device

equipped with the appropriate transceiver.

Li-Fi offers several advantages over

‘traditional’ Wi-Fi. Increased speed is a key

benefit, as mentioned above. Earlier in 2015,

speeds of 224Gbps were demonstrated

under lab conditions at Oxford University.

It also operates in the light rather than

the radio portion of the electromagnetic

spectrum (unlike Wi-Fi, which is a radio

frequency or ‘RF’ technology), Li-Fi won’t

interfere with equipment that relies on radio

communications. Therefore, it can be safely

used in planes and hospitals.

On the downside, light doesn’t penetrate

through walls, so Li-Fi communications are

strictly limited to a single room – that does,

of course, mean that data transfers are much

more secure. No more getting your Wi-Fi

‘slurped’ by the neighbours! And there’s no

need to leave the lights blazing. Li-Fi will

still work even with light levels reduced to

such an extent that it feels like you’re sitting

in the dark.

Speaking to the International Business

Times, Velmenni’s CEO Deepak Solanki said:

“We are doing a few pilot projects within

different industries where we can utilise VLC

technology. Currently, we have designed

a smart lighting solution for an industrial

environment where the data communication

is done through light. We are also doing a

pilot project with a private client where we

are setting up a Li-Fi network to access the

internet in their office space.”

Various other companies have also been

working on designing applications for

Li-Fi, and Velmenni hopes to be able to

license its tech to such developers.

So is this the end of the line for Wi-Fi?

Given the extent to which it has become

part of the fabric of all our lives and homes,

probably not, at least not for a while – but

do expect to see developments in the Li-

Fi sector continuing apace. What’s more,

Wi-Fi could have a future as a means of

wireless power transmission, if research

at the University of Washington and the

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and

Technology comes to fruition. But that’s a

story for another day... ß

Velmenni’s Jugnu light bulb is capable of two-way transmission at rapid speeds

TECHOMETER

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VTech, which makes kiddy-

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RUSSELL DEEKS is a freelance technology

journalist, and Contributing Editor of Focus

o Gogo o c a g g s a o s,

early in 2016, followed

later in the year

by other, as yet

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European

cities.

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