Lightbulbs: WiFi Hotspots of the Future

Folks at Boston University's College of Engineering are reseaching a program aimed at developing the next generation of wireless communication -- based on visible light. This should be a radical departure from the current RF technology which uses radio waves for transmitting data and creating wireless networks. The researchers are experimenting with LEDs which will be capable of carrying data over short distances with more security than ever before. The aim of the initiative is to eventually develop an optical communication technology which would make an LED light, the equivalent of a Wi-Fi access point.

BU Engineering Professor Thomas Little paints the ideal scenario for these LEDs: "Imagine if your computer, iPhone, TV, radio and thermostat could all communicate with you when you walked in a room just by flipping the wall light switch and without the usual cluster of wires -- This could be done with an LED-based communications network that also provides light -- all over existing power lines with low power consumption, high reliability and no electromagnetic interference. Ultimately, the system is expected to be applicable from existing illumination devices, like swapping light bulbs for LEDs."

An envisioned future involving LED wireless networks

Once a widespread LED lighting network is in place, a wireless device within sight of an enabled LED will be able to send/receive data at speeds of about 1 to 10mbit per second -- initially. With each LED holding the potential to serve as an access point to the network these networks have the potential to offer far greater bandwidth than current RF technology.

Additionally, as these networks work on the "line of sight" theory, it would be impossible to eavesdrop into a network by a person sitting across the wall. The added security though comes with the lack of seamless connectivity across opaque surfaces -- which can be easily circumvented by creating an "intelligent" network which will be accessible only to people who are supossed to use them; virtually blocking out the possiblity of network hacks -- at least at a local level.



Via:Cellular-News