‘Light Bulbs Will Be Mini-Computers’

Harald Haas, a professor at the University of Edinburg, was in the capital recently. He chats with Ashish Sinha on what inspired him to invent LiFi and its implications for rural India.

Edited excerpts:

What is LiFi and how will it change the world?
LiFi is the high-speed bidirectional network and mobile communication of data using light. LiFi comprises multiple light bulbs that form a wireless network. When an electrical current is applied to a LED light bulb, a stream of light (photons) is emitted from the bulb. LED bulbs are semiconductor devices, which means that the brightness of the light flowing through them can be changed at extremely high speeds. This allows us to send a signal by modulating the light at different rates. The signal can then be received by a detector which interprets the changes in light intensity (the signal) as data.

What are its applications?
Every LED and laser light source can be turned into a high-speed data transmitter. Every off-the-shelf solar cell/panel can be turned into a LiFi receiver. The applications are tremendous, ranging from 5G wireless high-speed networking to connecting billions of Internet-of-Things devices such as home appliances, cars, etc. It can be used to connect robots and machines underwater or connect robots and machines in intrinsically unsafe environments such as petrochemical plants and oil platforms.

How will it impact rural and urban India?
LiFi with solar cells as receivers and lasers as light sources will enable affordable wireless data transfer over kilometers. This technology will bridge the rural divide in a cost-effective manner as solar cells have a large area and atmospheric distortions are thus, much less harmful compared to current free-space optical (FSO) technologies.

Tell us about smart lighting.
Currently lights serve one or two purposes: lighting and heat as a bi-product. Similarly, 20 years ago mobile phones served two purposes: mobile telephony and SMS. Today smartphones are mini-computers with memory, processing power, and connectivity.

Smartphones serve hundreds of applications. In the future light bulbs will be mini-computers with memory, processing power and LiFi will connect them to their environment. Smart lights will serve hundreds of applications driving new businesses in application developments and technology development. An LED light bulb lasts 20 years and more. The lighting industry will draw new business models from the trend of ‘light as a service’ (LaaS), and ‘LiFi’ will be the rail-track of the fourth industrial revolution.