Discovery dubbed 'Li-Fi' may replace WiFi

Chinese scientists have successfully developed a new cheaper way of getting connected to internet by using signals sent through light bulbs ('Li- Fi') instead of radio frequencies as in 'Wi-Fi', a move expected to radically change process of online connectivity.

Under the new discovery, a light bulb with embedded microchips can produce data rates as fast as 150 megabits per second, which is speedier than the average broadband connection in China, said Chi Nan, who leads a Li-Fi research team including scientists from the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The current wireless signal transmission equipment is expensive and low in efficiency, Chi said.

"As for cell phones, millions of base stations have been established around the world to strengthen the signal but most of the energy is consumed on their cooling systems," she said. "The energy utilisation rate is only 5 per cent," state-run Xinhua news agency quoted her as saying.

Li-Fi is being eyed as a complement to capacity-challenged Wi-Fi and cellular networks. It promises to be cheaper and more energy-efficient than existing wireless radio systems given the ubiquity of LED bulbs and the fact that lighting infrastructure is already in place. Visible light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum and 10,000 times bigger than the radio spectrum, affording potentially unlimited capacity.

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