Optiva Media for MediaLifi

MediaLiFi is a national project where Optiva Media to implement a LiFi based communication system to provide high speed access to quality multimedia content in public transportation.

30/07/2020

Consumers want to have total control of their consumption , when and where they want to use that service, with higher demand and expectations on their access to audiovisual content in situations of mobility, such as the frequent daily commutes by train or bus.

Currently, there are no services that can guarantee this entire experience for the user, mainly due to technological limitations like range, speed, and bandwidth, as well as interference with radiofrequency waves from other services in a radio spectrum that is increasingly saturated.

MediaLiFi is a national project financed by the CDTI where Optiva Media collaborates with the University Carlos III of Madrid to implement a LiFi based communication system to provide high speed access to quality multimedia content in public collective transportation vehicles.

How it works:

The basic operation of a LiFi system is simple. At one end the source device is placed, consisting usually of a LED light whose behaviour as data transmitter is managed by a microcontroller. This microcontroller modulates the light being emitted by the LED, creating light pulses at very high frequencies that are undetectable to the human eye. This enables a dual function: light source and wireless communications link for the transmission of multimedia content.

At the other end of the system, a photodetector receives the transmitted data encapsulated within the light beam and, after the amplification and processing phases, the data are offered to the user device. The system is completed with the ascendant link between the user’s device and the luminaire.

These results open the door to the use of LED lamps already installed on plains, trains, buses and other collective transportation vehicles, to facilitate reading as a means of transporting data, reducing costs of installation and the market’s reluctance towards LiFi assimilation while eliminating the problems caused by the saturation of the spectrum.

In summary, the installation of LEDs has no need for novel infrastructures for its implementation reducing deployment costs and environmental impact and increasing the return on investment in terms of energy savings and low maintenance costs.