Beaming data with light is
hardly a new thing, but lately we've seen a number of attempts at making it rather more usable and, more interesting, rather more speedy. We're starting to get the feeling that those
maybe/maybe not dangerous microwave-based systems have had their days numbered. The latest to beam bits with blinkenlights is a team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications in Germany, which will be showing its stuff at the
always happenin' Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition in two weeks. The team was able to use a commercial LED and get an impressive 230Mb/s transfer rate, which doesn't compare to the gigabit
Penn State managed or 500mb/s
Siemens pulled off, but those were done using rather more specialized hardware (like the Siemens rig pictured above). It's interesting stuff, and we're looking forward to see the commercial applications for this tech, but we do have one nagging question: what if you want to surf in the dark?
posted March 13th 2010 5:49PM
NAAAAAAAAIIIIIIISSSSSSEEEE!!!
@nooruls143 first-first comment to inform the troll that they forgot "first!"
There's a reason we stopped using IrDA long ago for communication between devices, aside from it's slow speed. RF communications have the slight advantage of being able to go through walls.
@chaos215bar2
Not to mention that with RF you don't have to have a bright LED on your gadget to have an uplink...
I think this is cool
Being more usable is nice, but 230Mb/s isn't even up to par with current Wireless N standards.
@Prevacator
Maybe for some crude cheap T lines...
no way wifi gives you radiation? that sucks balls!
Unfortunately, as far as I know, light of the visible spectrum stops when it hits walls. I'd hate to drill a hole in the wall between my computer and the router. This is for local data (like between your HDD and your RAM)... Still a cool area of research.
@Invader Par
If you used a Giga-Watt laser as the light source and media, it would vaporize your wall - problem solved.
@Invader Par
well we will soon be having our own xray transmitters won't we?
@Invader Par Wait, your house has walls? I got rid of those unnecessary things a long time ago.
@shishi
Make sure you aim away from your load baring walls.
@weedalin
Ya, I just have a deck on my half acre like J.D. from Scrubs.
@groovedafied
i like the engineering reference
pew pew
@REFinden
pew....pew pew pepepepepepew pewpew
Lasers can act like pinball bumpers too.
@leemahi
Was that sarcasm? I didn't see radiation mentioned anywhere! Plus if you want to get technical, any optical device uses radiation as well! lol
@Invader Par
That would be awesome to use this tech for internal PC communication! easier cable management, and flashing lights! However, to be effective it would need to get a lot faster to match SATA! Interesting concept none-the-less.
@HrVanker Didn't see radiation mentioned? quote Engagdet: "We're starting to get the feeling that those maybe/maybe not dangerous microwave-based systems have had their days numbered." It says microwave based = microwaves = radiation.
@Tentcityanthem
Ah, sorry for my hubris... However I didn't see where it said WiFi = radiation.
@HrVanker
Some cases where Microwaves are used to transmit data:
* Backbone or backhaul carriers in cellular networks. Used to link BTS-BSC and BSC-MSC.
* Communication with satellites
* Microwave radio relay links for television and telephone service providers
However LEDs will never replace these. At best they might replace your home wireless router, but they're just too impractical
So THAT's what people in Star Wars were doing with their blasters: texting.
Please explain to me again how 230Mb/s is less than 500mb/s or even 1gb/s?
@jol
Nevermind. I feel stupid.
@jol
I made the same mistake *hug*
@jol
They are two completely different units of measurement. m is meter and M is mega. k is kilo and K is kelvin. Names of scientists and full names of units are started with a small letter :)
Just as fast as FiOS, but less reliable.
They both work at the speed of light...
@ckrames1234
Right up until they hit the cable end. It's all downhill from there, or maybe uphill is a better word.
@ckrames1234
Right up until they hit the cable end. It's all downhill from there, or maybe uphill is a better word.
@ckrames1234
Right up until they hit the cable end. It's all downhill from there, or maybe uphill is a better word.
@ckrames1234
Right up until they hit the cable end. It's all downhill from there, or maybe uphill is a better word.
@Cy Starkman
Don't even blame this on Engadget's comment system.
@krunal126
He just has bad internet.
This is what the FCC is trying to fix!
@engadget
if you want to surf in the dark it will be a few more years or probably decades.
We need light that's above the visible light spectrum. The side benefit will be monster data rates. The downside will be power requirements.
Think red laser to blue laser. Blue laser was ahmm 1994 I think, 10 years later bluray. Bluray is lame speeds yet.
@Roisen
Must just be you...
@Roisen They are hidden. Spam Happens, Colonel.
@TimStevens
I want to uprank this but I can't... Spam Happens. ^^
I'm still waiting for someone to come up with a device that will teleport photons across long distances for communication. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/science/03teleportation.html
Data transfer with almost absolutely NO lag...games will love this.