Linux Patches Updated For Light-Based Networking With pureLiFi Driver

Li-Fi that uses LED lighting for wireless communication between devices is a step closer to reality on Linux systems with leading commercial start-up pureLiFi continuing to move closer to upstreaming the driver supporting their hardware that supports this technology.

Li-Fi remains elusive outside of niche markets but we'll see what 2021 holds. PureLiFi for months has been working on a network driver for supporting their light-based networking hardware including the LiFi-X, LiFi-XC, and LiFi-XL USB adapters. Li-Fi aims for multi-Gigabit speeds while having better reliability and security than WiFi, at least in theory.

A 12th spin of their "purelifi" driver was sent out onto the mailing list for review. This driver has now been tested across x86, ARM, and PowerPC while the latest versions of these patches continue addressing technical items caught through code review and testing. It's great seeing the company themselves continue to work on this driver support and go through the necessary steps for getting their open-source driver cleaned up and ready for the mainline kernel.

The latest PureLiFi Linux patches can be found on the LKML. So far though the pureLiFi hardware is not readily available nor was there any news from them this week during the virtual CES 2021.