"Outstanding Technology, a Japanese venture, is researching data transmission through the use of visible light. At Interop 2010, the company demonstrated data and audio transmission via visible light.
"Into the future, LEDs will replace incandescent lighting, and it's being said that LEDs will also replace fluorescent lighting. And that means all lighting infrastructure will become communication infrastructure."
"Let me explain today's demo. This device is connected to the Internet via a cable. The data is carried by the LED light, and this light receiver provides the downlink. And from this device via this cable, the PC is connected to the internet. The uplink for that data is via the LED in this device. In other words, this PC accesses the Internet via two pairs of LEDs and light receivers."
In visible light communication, two things are important: range and speed. This technology from Outstanding currently holds world records for both.
"For example, this device achieves 160 Mbps with one channel. We've also succeeded in voice transmission over a distance of 13 km, between Togane and Kujukuri-hama in Chiba. A range of 13 km and a speed of 160 Mbps constitute the world record for visible light communication. We've achieved these two things using our light receivers."
Until now, it was thought that visible light communication could only be done using direct rays, which are prone to obstruction. But by increasing the sensitivity of the receiver, enabling it to utilize indirect and scattered light such as that reflected from walls, it may be possible to communicate indoors by "going around" obstacles, like with radio signals.
"In this demo, we're using the light you can see over there, that is, reflected light. So this is a new technology that can communicate using reflected light and indirect light, without receiving light directly. This music is being transmitted via that screen. That's why the music stops when I obstruct this receiver."
Outstanding Technologies is currently doing R&D to make visible light data transmission commercially viable. As the first step, the company is doing field tests of transmission systems for use underwater, where it's difficult for radio signals to travel.
Related Links :
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Interop Tokyo 2010
