Caution: Blinking LEDs Can Lead To An 800mbps Wireless Network

The super geniuses over at the Fraunhofer institute have dreamed up a way of turning a ceiling full of blinking LEDs into an 800mbps wireless network that requires only “a few additional components” worth of modifications.

As ISPreview tells it, the technology could be used in areas — like aeroplanes or hospitals — where radio signals are frowned upon. And Fraunhofer’s Anagnostis Paraskevopoulos explains the process, which included the simultaneous transfer of four HD videos to four laptops, as such:

“The fundamentals of visible light communication (VLC) were developed together with the industry partners Siemens and France Telecom Orange Labs,” said the expert. At HHI, the team of project manager Klaus-Dieter Langer is now further developing the new technology. “For VLC the sources of light – in this case, white-light LEDs – provide lighting for the room at the same time they transfer information. With the aid of a special component, the modulator, we turn the LEDs off and on in very rapid succession and transfer the information as ones and zeros. The modulation of the light is imperceptible to the human eye. A simple photo diode on the laptop acts as a receiver. As Klaus-Dieter Langer explains, “The diode catches the light, electronics decode the information and translate it into electrical impulses, meaning the language of the computer.”

But the obvious problem here is that the LED source and its receiver needs to have a direct line of site to function within its 10m radius. Walls need not apply. [Fraunhofer via ISPreview via Slashdot]

Image via Flickr/Uncene