LED Lightbulbs, Your New Wireless Transmitter
German researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications have set a new speed record for Visible Light Communication technology, with speeds of up to 800Mbps.
Source: Illustration from The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute
Using flashing LED lightbulbs to transmit digital information is not something that is new. Visible Light Communication (VLC) has been around for at least a couple of years.
But this year, German researchers from Berlin's Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications managed to crank up the technology's speeds to 800Mbps, setting a new speed record.
Such technology is ideal for using on planes and hospitals where rampant Wi-Fi signals may interfere with sensitive electronic equipment, and are banned.
From the looks of things however, adoption of VLC may still be a few years away from being commercially available, so you may have to hold on to your dinky Wi-Fi router for a couple more years.
One obvious barrier to adoption of this new technology is the fact that it can be easily blocked by opaque objects.
But benefits of such technology are plenty, such as utilizing LEDs for both light and information, cutting down the need for additional and expensive equipment.
Acoording to ISPreview, costs of converting LEDs into ultra-fast networks are also very low, making it an affordable alternative to conventional networking systems, ideal in environments like offices where lights are perpetually turned on.
To read more, click here (Via Gizmodo, Via Slashdot, Via ISPreview, Via Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute)
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