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Wi-Fi on Rays of Light: 100 Times Faster, and Never Overloaded


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Since it has no moving parts, the system is maintenance-free and requires no power.

Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology have developed a wireless network based on infrared rays.

Credit: knowridge.com

Researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands have developed a Wi-Fi network based on directable infrared light rays, offering capacity topping 40 Gbps for each ray, and eliminating the need to share wavelengths since every device receives its own ray.

Data is transmitted by a few centralized antennas equipped with passive diffraction gratings and optical fiber to direct the rays, so there are no moving parts and the system requires no power, according to TU/e's Joanne Oh. She says devices are assigned different wavelengths by the same antenna, which means there is no interference from a neighboring Wi-Fi network.

Oh's work is part of TU/e's BROWSE project, which is focusing on the creation of indoor optical wireless networks. BROWSE differs from other research in this area with the invention of the diffraction gratings, which can simultaneously accommodate numerous light rays and devices.

From Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands)
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