Building the LiFi ecosystem

Musa Unmehopa – Head of Ecosystems and Strategic Alliances at Signifymusa.unmehopa@signify.com

24 June 2021

Signify is the world leader in lightingCompany overview

32,000people in 74 countries

€6.2bn sales in 2019,

~ 75% professional

No. 1Industry Leader

Dow Jones Sustainability Index

No. 1Connected, LED,

Conventional

Systems and ServicesLight sources Luminaires

2 Source: Signify Annual Report

Selection of our brands:

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Light with modem

Data reception

e.g. via USB key

LiFifull duplex broadband wireless internetusing modulated light

There are many exciting LiFi innovations taking place and there is a lot of important LiFi research going on, but …

… there is no need to wait

LiFi technology is mature enough to bring the first commercial products to market

… what we need to do now is grow the ecosystem4

The Future Potential of LiFi is here today

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Integrating LiFi access pointin lighting fixtures

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External LiFi end points

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LiFi integratedin end user devices

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LiFi is maturing

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… apologies

if I did not include

your product…

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a conglomerate of economic actorsthat mutually rely on each other to survive and thrive

collectively create and build a global market in which we can all compete effectively and serve consumers

connect, share, grow and transform together

acts as an amplifier to individual success and serve as a catalyst for collective success

ensure global coverage as well as local concentration at the same time

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Light Communications Alliance

Currently formed by 18 member companies including telecom operators, light communication vendors, equipment manufacturers, lighting manufacturers, universities and research institutions

MISSIONDriving a consistent, focused & concise approach to market education that will highlight the benefits, use cases & timelines for Light Communications

HOWAligning leaders across every industry by defining a standard of education in an efficient education and cooperation frame

www.lightcommunications.orgwelcome to JOIN

Standardization ITU-T SG15/Q18

Starting with G.hn (G.9961) standard for wired home networking standard (Coax, Twisted Pair, Powerline Communication) G.vlc (G.9991)

includes support for• Interference management, Inter-domain

handover• IEEE 802.1x basic security• (Uniform) Management interface• Secure handover

G.9960/9961 and amendments14

Next steps

Next generation G.vlc• Incremental feature upgrades and

performance improvements• Support for even broader set of use cases

G.fin for Fiber To The Room (FTTR)• Fully leverage lighting infrastructure for future

wired fronthaul and backhaul networking• Enable new smart lighting control use cases

using dense in-building fiber infrastructure

Approved and Published in 2021

Standardization IEEE 802.11

IEEE 802.11bb started out integrating WiFi6 and ITU G.hn

Added support for• Optical antenna• Definition of the center frequency• Support for low-cost devices and

circuitry, and full for spectral use• Maximize re-use of commercially available

Wi-Fi chips

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Work in progress

Taking 802.11-2020 and 802.11ax as starting point• Make sure amendment in .11bb will support LiFi

as a future growth path for .11 WLANs• Implementations should allow for (cheap) Wi-Fi

chip reuse• Create opportunity for best use of future .11

features prepared in TGbe. E.g. the MLO feature seems promising for ITU integration

Expected Approval and Publication in 2022/2023

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A strong interoperability certification program is needed

Interoperability certification lowers the barrier to adoption, encourages industry to build competitive propositions, and increases consumer confidence

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?

!

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LiFi

We are building the ecosystem …

Lighting Companies

Device Manufacturers

Network Equipment Manufacturers

Communication Service Providers

Silicon Vendors

Standards Development Organizations

Industry Alliances

Research and Academia

LiFi

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LiFi

… and the ecosystem needs to grow bigger Test Houses

Certification Authorities

Regulators and Policy Makers

Installers

Distributors

Building Managers

End User Groups

Enterprise Network Architects / CIOs

Component Providers

Engineering Schools

Construction Contractors

Analysts / Media

Call to Action: Be part of the LiFi future today!

• Join a LiFi industry alliance

• Contribute to standardization

• Help to define the certification program

• Reach out to manufacturers of LiFi products or components

• Continue to push the boundaries in research and academia

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we are on the runway, LiFi is taking off!~ jump on board now ~

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