If researchers at Boston University's College of Engineering have their way, light bulbs of the future may be the highway your data gets carried along. A team at the school is working on low-power LEDs which could utilize an optical communication system to carry data wirelessly. Using a technique which rapidly switches the LEDs on and off data transmissions could be made via imperceptible -- yet undoubtedly brain-scrambling -- flickering patterns, and each light would be its own network entry point at speeds of 1 to 10Mbps. The concept is more secure than current RF techniques because it requires linked devices be in line-of-sight, and the technology would draw far less energy than conventional radios. Says professor Thomas Little, "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." Yes... and talk about you behind your back. And plot your "accidental" death after taking out a large life insurance policy on you. You won't get away with this LED network!
[Thanks, Travis]
posted Oct 7th 2008 5:57AM
Huh, thats odd. I thought that would be big news. There seems to be a absent on Edgaget of a certain ornithological piece. A headline regarding mass awarness of a certain avaion variety. Oh, have you not heard? It was my understanding that everyone had heard.
What? The bird is the word.
ba-ba-ba-ba-bird bird bird, bird is the word
If this ever goes commercial, I would hack the crap out of it. Just think how easy it would be to kill people's houseplants by overwatering.
Are you talking about magpies being self-aware? If so, what does that have to do with gadgets?
Win! +1
They also fail to explain how the uplink works. Either you resort to other radio technology (thereby loosing all the 'advantages' of the LED system) or your computers, phones and pot-plants require big LEDs on pointing at a suitable receptor.
@Reader: You're CLEARLY not following the Incredible Adventures of Peter "The Family Guy" Griffin.
Worst episode in a long time... Too bad, the premiere was really funny.
@Grammar freak: I agree but the meme character of that song is undisputable.
B-b-b-bird bird bird, the bird is the word!
I for one welcome our LED overlords.
BIRD IS THE WORD! HAHAHHAHA
What if there's a massive power outage?
Current wireless networks don't work without power. Unless you're using a mobile device and WWAN, power outages will have the same affect.
This would be affected differently than your conventional wireless routers how?
Both RF and light require electricity, but a household RF router consumes about 6-10W, while LED lightbulbs ring in from 9-15W (and you would forseeably need more than one to cover a large area). If you had a UPS, the battery would drain faster with the lights than with the regular RF router. Factor in 802.11g+ speeds and there's no comparison.
The concept is nice, but frankly, didn't we already go through this with infrared?
'Watt's' electricity? Get it?!
Immature jerks are going to have a field day screwing with people with the light switch. Or open an umbrella inside over your coworker's desk and cut him off from the world...muahaha
Thinking about it the other way, tinfoil hats might actually become useful.
This is assuming the dude sitting down on the left is using an all-in-one pc.
And that light bulbs are on at all times, even in the morning!
Sounds like they just invented the wireless network all over again. Except that a normal wireless network is faster, cheaper, easier to install and doesn't require that you turn the lights on.
i think we are missing the bigger part of this story, the plant now has wifi.
Funny as...
if it has a bad day it can send an e-mail.
To: Plant Owner
Subject: OI!!
OI - stop humming that song and get me some bloody water!!
Everything will have the power to talk!!
cool but where do i get the plant with the accent?
@Bufsabre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tradescantia_fluminensis
TRALED; The Rebellion Against L.E.D, has been aware of such actions by this well know menace. In response to this blog, WE, have decided to go public and is currently seeking member to join the cause,
...So who wants to join? we got cake!
.
If you want people to come, you have to promise punch and pie.
Dare I trust a man with a pentagram as his display picture.....cake.....I'm in!
That depends... what kind of cake are we talking about here?
Allislost, you better not be lying.
the cake is a lie! have none of you played portal? ohh, the nerve gas...
For the record, and to aid in the explanation of your acronym, L.E.D. stands for Laser Emitting Dolphins.
Just thought I would clear up any confusion.
Dolphins with frickin' laser beams on their heads!
TRALED; The Rebellion Against Light Emitting Diodes, has heard and understood the public outcry do to concerns over cake types and flavors. So WE, have instituted new rules...
*Members can choose one cake type and flavor per month
*Members may not change cake and/or flavors unless any ingredient in the chosen cake and/or flavors causes illness
*Members may not use their cake for any other use other than for consumption through chewing and swallowing
...I have chosen chocolate cake, next month I will go coconut!
Can it be Victorian sponge cake with that layer of jam in the middle afterwards?
OOOOOH CHOCOLATE!!!!
Can we please go one mention of cake without a damn Portal reference. I'm really starting to hate that game, which is a shame.
Don't want cake......Got Pie??
This would make the "how many _____ does it take to change a lightbulb" to a whole new level
42.
how many network engineers does it take to change a lightbulb?
None cause people would just use wifi instead.
Great, so in addition to cancer from radio waves we're going to become epileptics as well.
This also brings a whole new level to the complaint "you're standing in my light!"
"You are standing in my Wi-Fi"?
more like "Li-Fi"
Well they seem to miss saying that it would be very annoying. It wouldn't be a simple flick of the switch since the line-of-sight is strick and would most likly require acrobatics to link up in the long run.
Also why would it only be limited to iPhone? Maybe that is the problem inventors don't have a big picture view of things.
No one said it would be limited to the iPhone. That's simply the scenario case the designers gave. Obviously, if this scheme were to work (which I think it will not), then anything could be outfitted with the proper hardware to utilize the tech.
Giving the nature of how light works, although it might be more secure with needing direct line of sight but to me it just seems all so very impractical with needing to have devices pointing to the light at all times and the lights on all day long.
If we could hook the Sun up with WiFi, WiMAX will be defeated, until nightfall.
If the moon was out that night, you would still get your data, though the SNR would fall significantly.