A PLUG-IN device that uses lightbulbs to connect people and things to ultra-fast internet networks will be launched at the world’s biggest mobile industry event this month by PureLiFi, the University of Edinburgh spin-out.
The company uses off-the-shelf LED (light emitting diode) lightbulbs to provide 1,000 times more wireless capacity than currently available and is now launching is technology in miniature form as a dongle, a small data storage device that plugs into the back of computers to connect them to the internet.
“Our mobile device is now a dongle which is less than the size of a business card,” explains PureLiFi founder Harald Haas, who has been developing the technology for more than ten years. “You plug it into the USB port on your laptop, turn it on, and when you walk under an LED light that is wi-fi enabled, it connects you to the internet.”
Li-Fi reaches extremely fast speeds by harnessing the very high flicker rate of LEDs – which can achieve one billion on-off cycles per second versus the 100 cycles per second of a standard TV or computer monitor. Mr Haas’s vision is to mobilise the world’s 20 billion light sources – including lighting used in streets, vehicles, buildings, aircraft and underwater – as communication devices, wiping out the global bandwidth shortage overnight.
The new product, called LiFi-X, harnesses next generation ‘5G’ internet speeds and will be launched at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on 22-25 February. Mr Haas said PureLiFi was talking to companies all over the world about integrating LiFi technology into their products, including French lighting products company Lucibel.
PureLiFi is one of 35 Scottish tech companies joining trade body Scottish Development International (SDI) on its annual pavilion at the industry event, which is expected to attract more than 95,000 people and feature more than 2,100 exhibitors.
SDI said 2014/15 was a record year for Scotland’s tech sector, which successfully raised more than £85m in equity. Edinburgh also created 44 university spin-outs last year, making it the largest start-up hub in the UK outside London.
Other companies joining the delegation include Skyscanner, one of Scotland’s ‘unicorns’ – tech companies valued at more than $1 billion. The company recently closed a £128m fund raisng from five new investors.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here