IEEE Approves the 802.11bb LiFi Standard, Promising High-Speed Light-Based Networks for All

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has formally approved the IEEE 802.11bb LiFi standard — which aims to solve the problem of an increasingly-crowded radio spectrum by extending the Wi-Fi concept into the realm of near-infrared light, using a building's lighting system or dedicated access points to transmit and receive data at high speeds.

"The IEEE 802.11bb standard is a critical step to enable interoperability between multiple vendors. It allows for the first time LiFi solutions inside the Wi-Fi ecosystem," claims 802.11bb atsk-group technical editor Volker Jungnickel, from Fraunhofer HHI. "This is essential for the development of new and innovative applications. LiFi can replace cables by short-range optical wireless links and connect numerous sensors and actuators to the Internet. We believe that this will create a future mass market."

The idea behind 802.11bb, and the reason it shares a prefix with the 802.11b Wi-Fi standard, is simple: take the technologies originally developed for Wi-Fi and extend them to near-infrared light. The resulting standard, the work of the Light Communications 802.11bb Task Group, defines the physical layer specification and systems architecture — meaning that companies can now develop LiFi-based devices with confidence that they'll interoperate with those from other vendors.

LiFi pioneer pureLiFi, which chaired the Task Group, is already ahead of the curve on that front, having developed a module dubbed the Light Antenna ONE — a drop-in accessory which adds LiFi support to existing Wi-Fi chipsets, making the light-based data channel appear as just another Wi-Fi band. In theory, the standard extends from 10Mb/s to 9.6Gb/s throughput — though real-world rates may differ.

"This is a significant moment for the LiFi industry, as it provides a clear framework for the deployment of LiFi technology on a global scale," says pureLiFi chief executive Alistair Banham. "We are proud to have played a leading role in its creation and to be ready with the world's first standards-compliant devices. The existence of a global standard gives confidence to device manufacturers who will deploy LiFi at scale. With the release of the IEEE 802.11bb standard, pureLiFi believes that LiFi as a complimentary and additive solution to RF communications is now poised to take its place in the wireless communication market, offering unprecedented speed, security, and reliability to users around the world."

Early adopters of the technology are expected to come from sectors where the local radio spectrum is crowded or disturbed by noise, such as education, medical, and industrial, though the technology is also expected to appeal to use in the home thanks to low latency and high throughput. It also has a few tricks up its sleeve beyond simple data transmission, including centimeter-level indoor positioning capabilities.

The 802.11bb standard is available now, for a fee, on the IEEE Standards Association (SA) website. So far, however, no manufacturers have come forward with a launch date for the first consumer products built around the technology.