Recently, the International Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) officially released the IEEE
802.11bb global optical communication standard. This is the first global
standard for light-based LiFi communication and is a historic milestone in the
development of LiFi technology, which will provide a unified technical
specification and interface for the development and popularization of optical
communication.
The IEEE 802.11bb standard defines the
physical layer specification and system architecture for wireless communication
using light waves. The standard lays the foundation for widespread adoption of
the technology and paves the way for interoperability of LiFi systems with
successful WiFi standards. The approval of the standard was completed in June
2023.
The release of the standard has been
welcomed by LiFi enterprises worldwide, as it will help accelerate the promotion
and adoption of data transmission technology standards. Proponents of LiFi,
including pureLiFi, Fraunhofer HHI and the Optical Communication 802.11bb
Working Group, have highlighted the advantages of using optical communication.
Compared to traditional technologies such as WiFi and 5G, LiFi offers
"faster and more reliable wireless communication with unparalleled
security."
LiFi, also known as Light Fidelity, is
based on visible light communication (VLC) technology, which can realize
two-way, high-speed wireless network transmission. It is one type of Optical
wireless communication (OWC). WiFi, which is widely used today, uses radio
frequency (RF) signals for wireless communication, while LiFi uses visible
light.
In simple terms, the working principle of
LiFi is to use the light source as a signal emission source (optical signal),
and communicate with the terminal receiver by controlling the on-off of the LED
lamp installed with a specific chip (optical signal is translated into ordinary
electrical signal). It is not new, because this concept is actually proposed by
the University of Edinburgh professor Harald Haas (Professor Harald Haas) first
publicly as early as October 2011 held in the Global science and technology
entertainment design conference (TED Global), after more than ten years of
development, It has finally been identified as a wireless communication
standard by the IEEE.
According to public information, testing of
LiFi was already underway as early as 2016, and PureLiFi, for example, was
approved by Singapore's Media Infocomm Development Authority (IMDA) to start
testing there. Around the same time, PureLiFi which is owned by Professor
Harold Haas launched three versions of its LiFi system, including Li-Fi X, the
first LiFi dongle, and a LiFi integrated lighting device developed in
collaboration with French lighting manufacturer Lucibel.
In 2018, Oledcom launched the MyLiFi desk
lamp router that supports LiFi, and the American company VLNComm also launched
the LumiNex LED lighting panel that supports LiFi in the same year. In 2021,
pureLiFi joined forces with the US military in Europe and Africa to launch
KiteFin, which is the world's first large-scale deployment of LiFi.
It is worth mentioned that pureLiFi has
developed devices that comply with the new standard, including the recently
released Light Antenna ONE. Similar to Antenna chains in radio frequency (RF)
systems such as WiFi, Light Antenna ONE supports 802.11bb compliance and can be
integrated with existing WiFi chipsets as another band.
PureLiFi is pleased to see the release of
the IEEE 802.11bb standard. "This is an important moment for the LiFi
industry as it provides a clear framework for deploying LiFi technology on a
global scale. We are proud to have played a leading role in its creation and to
have prepared the world's first standard-compliant devices." The existence
of a global standard gives confidence to equipment manufacturers deploying LiFi
on a large scale."
The standard covers all aspects from the
physical layer to the application layer, including modulation, coding,
transmission, reception, security, interoperability etc.
The IEEE 802.11BB global optical
communication standard was developed by the IEEE 802.11 Working Group over the
past four years. The Group is made up of experts from more than 100 companies,
research institutions and government agencies from around the world. Through
extensive discussion, testing and evaluation, they finally reached a consensus
and passed the formal voting process.
The working group also developed the WiFi
standard, 802.11WiFi.
Optical communication technology has a
broad application prospect. It can be applied to smart home, smart city,
intelligent transportation, industrial Internet of things, health care,
education, entertainment and other fields. It can also complement and
collaborate with existing wireless technologies such as WiFi and cellular
networks to form a diversified wireless ecosystem.
With the release of the IEEE 802.11bb
standard, LiFi technology is expected to achieve large-scale commercialization
and adoption in the next few years, bringing new innovations and opportunities
to the wireless communications industry.
Source: China Light Network
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