When Wi-FI today almost seems like a synonym for internet, there is this young guy who is working on making India use internet with LiFi. An Engineering student from IIT Bombay and IIT Hyderabad who studied Robotics as well, this young lad, Deepak Solanki has figured it all out at the age of 22 only. Way back in 2012 he learned this technology called Light Fidelity and almost then only he registered this name with a proprietary business.
What is LiFi
LiFi as a technology uses LED bulbs to transmit data or power the internet using lights in a simpler language. The best part about the technology is to provide internet speeds almost 100 times faster than the current wifi internet technology.
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The Journey
When Solanki was convinced of the technology being of revolutionary in nature, he started working with his friend on the same and got satisfactory results. He was able to prepare a prototype by 2013 and started aiming for investors. He even participated in one of the largest tech conferences and managed to get through finale but did not win, but Airbus, showed a keen interest in the technology, and despite not winning the conference, the light at the end of the tunnel started to show.
Airbus made Solanki join their corporate accelerator in Germany for a period of 6 months wherein 5 other aviation giants were invited and Velmenni was also one of them. This served Solanki both as a huge platform and a learning experience as he showcased his technology in front of all these biggies. After that, there was no looking back for him and his business started picking up. Making LiFi work in aircraft was one of the biggest breakthroughs.
How it Works
Li-Fi is set to completely change the face of the Internet and is the future, which means that the 5g infrastructure will be based both on WiFi and LiFi.
The technology works almost in a similar manner, with a dongle, but there are separate devices for indoor and outdoor usage. “We plug each of the Li-Fi access points to a light source, which is LED in this case. The router is plugged in between the LED and the LED driver and we have a USB dongle that can be used to connect with a laptop, desktop or smart devices,” says Solanki. For the outdoor space, the use of optical fibers is needed, and the connection can be made through any light source like poles, street lamps, buildings etc.
The Next Step
While Solanki has been backed by Airbus which gave him the required kickstart, India as a market is still been worked upon from this technology’s perspective. The reason is lack of proper internet infrastructure. He may have moved out of India to make the first move, but how to make his own country use the benefits of technology is what is currently on Solanki’s mind and very soon he will figure out that too.
Let us hope that we all get to experience this revolutionary technology developed by Deepak sooner than we imagine.
