Li-Fi: Wireless Networks through light “the future is here”

Edinburgh University has developed a wireless network that can achieve transmission rates of 130 Mbits per second using light instead of radio waves.

Li-Fi

The system, they have called Li-Fi, uses LEDs to transmit sensitive data to receivers making changes in light intensity that researchers say are so fast they are invisible to the human eye.

One of the project leaders, physicist Harald Haas, has created a startup called Pure VLC from which is developing a kit of “intelligent lighting” that would allow current systems to transmit and receive data at speeds of up to 50 Mbits per second .

In addition, Haas said, he and his team were working in the lab to develop a superior version of Li-Fi can transmit up to 1 Gbps of network traffic. The idea has already been presented at a TEDGlobal conference last summer, and Haas indicates that technology could be integrated into future mobile devices, using for example the camera on these devices as a data port for downloads.

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