Apple testing light-based Li-Fi for future iPhones
Recent versions of iOS have been found to contain references to Li-Fi, an experimental high-speed wireless networking protocol that uses pulses of light to transmit data and is being marketed as a long-term replacement for Wi-Fi.
Beginning with iOS 9.1, the operating system's library cache file makes mention of "LiFiCapability" alongside other hardware and software capability declarations.
Harald Haas from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland invented Li-Fi in 2011. Haas demonstrated that he could transmit more data than a cellular tower by flickering light from a single LED.
Li-Fi works in a way not entirely unlike a traditional infrared remote control. Data is transmitted by rapidly modulating a light source, and received with a light sensor before being reassembled into an electronic signal. This new wireless system hit speeds of 224 gigabits per second in the lab, and has the potential to revolutionize internet usage.
Lab tests have shown that Li-Fi can hit speeds 100 times faster than current Wi-Fi systems. And speed is not the only advantage of Li-Fi. The system uses visible light communication between 400 and 800 terahertz to transmit messages in binary code.
Visible light cannot pass through walls, making Li-Fi a much more secure system, and less susceptible to interference. While the system seems promising, it won't likely replace Wi-Fi entirely, at least not anytime soon. Instead, researchers are now looking to retrofit devices with Li-Fi to use the two wireless systems together to optimize speed and security.
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