Local Area Network LED (800 Mbps)

It turns out that the most common LEDs are well suited for data transmission at high speeds. It is enough just to write software to modulate the flickering of the LEDs and put the photoreceiver on the “other end of the line” —that comes the finished channel VLC (Visible Light Communication), that is, the communication line in visible light. It looks like fiber, only by air.

Engineers from the Fraunhofer Telecommunications Institute (Berlin) have recently set a new record for data transfer speed in the VLC channel on four-color LEDs: 800 Mbps . They managed to raise a workable WLAN, where each node saw neighbors within a radius of approximately 1.8 m.

What is interesting about this technology is that similar LEDs are used in the design of white LED household light bulbs.


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Thus, the lighting in the house (floor lamps, chandeliers, Christmas tree decorations) can theoretically become part of such a network if they start to flicker with the correct protocol. The practical value is that such modems do not generate radio emission, so they can be used as an alternative to WiFi in hospitals, airplanes, etc. Such flicker is not perceived by the human eye.

A practical demonstration of technology by inventors promise to arrange at the IFA 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Berlin (September 2-7, 2011). On their stand (Halle 11.1, Stand 8), they will transmit live video using LEDs.