Turning on the light for wireless communication

There are reasons why IR shifted to the background.
 
Free space optics - Wireless communications without radio. Old tech with new future.

Good communication by radio will become more difficult as radio spectrum becomes scares and polluted.
Computer communication by lights is called FSO free space optics.
These products are available commercialy http://www.lightpointe.com
And in open source http://ronja.twibright.com/ http://ronja.twibright.com/

I have seen two commercial application in Cape Town. One link was approximately 8km. I think it was their emergancy backup link.

I think the various WUG's in SA will start applying FSO when the 2.4 & 5.8 Mhz is to messed up. http://www.ctwug.za.net

I believe the range limits can be overcome with better optics and larger banks of transmitting Leds.
 
Stupid question maybe but it should be faster (latency wise) than optical fiber no? Which is pointless if it can't be scaled to more than small networks, but still...what if :D

When light is travelling around the globe in an optical fibre, the actual transit time is longer, in part because the speed of light is slower by about 35% in an optical fibre, depending on its refractive index n.[69] Furthermore, straight lines rarely occur in global communications situations, and delays are created when the signal passes through an electronic switch or signal regenerator.[70]
Click to expand...
- wiki
 
FSO wont replace fiber in long distance communication any time soon, but it is easily deployed on short range < 10km. No lisence & more secure than radio.
 
It's should be relatively easy to devise a concept to modulate information on the down link with LED domestic lighting however it may be more challenging in the up-link
 
However good it may sound, they keep on forgetting one thing - human stupidity.

I foresee more problems with this solution than with older, more established, technologies.

Granted, for WAN links this should work fine, but for office communications... I don't think so.
 
erm why bother with this when there better technologies available? more cost affective

maybe there is something of use
 
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Ok, but what happens when: birds, insects, planes, helicopters etc all get between the link? It's like having a cable along the floor, and every time you stand on it, it drops... Hmmm. Very limited outside a room if you ask me.
 
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