Communications of the ACM
Is the Light Spectrum the Next Frontier for Wireless?
Credit: gizmag
Computer devices could eventually use light to communicate, and Li-Fi, formally called visible light communications, could replace Wi-Fi, says the University of Edinburgh's Harald Hass. He believes visible light communications could be a solution for the limits of current wireless networking technology. A microchip could be added to a standard light-emitting diode (LED) light to make it blink millions of times per second, and mobile devices with readers could then translate those blinks, which represent ones and zeros, into data. Adding an LED to mobile devices would enable communication in the other direction.
Hass says that if visible light communication technology was adopted, every street light could become a high-speed Internet port, and the human eye would not be able to tell the difference between a data-enabled light and a standard, always-on bulb.
However, current limitations include the fact that light communication needs constant line-of-site, the signal cannot travel through walls, neon signs and non-communicating light could interfere with it, and the handoff between close hubs must be worked out.
From Government Computer News
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