Li-Fi Revolution : Internet connection using light bulbs are 250 times faster than superfast broadband

Li-Fi, an alternative to Wi-Fi that transmits data using the spectrum of visible light, has achieved a new breakthrough, with UK scientists reporting transmission speeds of 10Gbit/s – more than 250 times faster than ‘superfast’ broadband.

The fastest speed previously reported was 3Gbit/s, achieved earlier this year by the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute in Germany. Chinese researchers also claimed this month to have produced a 150Mbp/s connection, but some experts were doubtful without seeing further proof.

The term Li-Fi was coined by Edinburgh University's Prof Harald Haas during a TED talk in 2011 (see below for video) though the technology is also known as visible light communications (VLC).

Many experts claim that Li-Fi represents the future of mobile internet thanks to its reduced costs and greater efficiency compared to traditional Wi-Fi.

Both Wi-Fi and Li-Fi transmit data over the electromagnetic spectrum, but whereas Wi-Fi utilises radio waves, Li-Fi uses visible light. This is a distinct advantage in that the visible light is far more plentiful than the radio spectrum (10,000 times more in fact) and can achieve far greater data density.

Li-Fi signals work by switching bulbs on and off incredibly quickly – too quickly to be noticed by the human eye. This most recent breakthrough builds upon this by using tiny micro-LED bulbs to stream several lines of data in parallel.

The research was carried out by the Ultra Parallel Visible Light Communications project, a joint venture between the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, St Andrews and Strathclyde, and funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Existing LED light bulbs could be converted to transmit Li-Fi signals with a single microchip, and the technology would also be of use in situations where radio frequencies cannot be used for fear of interfering with electronic circuitry.

And although Li-Fi bulbs would have to be kept on to transmit data, the bulbs could be dimmed to the point that they were not visible to humans and yet still functional. One draw-back is that the data receiver would have to be in sight of the transmitter-bulb as visible light does not penetrate solid materials.

The makers of Li-Fi note that this quality might actually be an advantage in some scenarios, making Li-Fi more secure than Wi-Fi with hackers unable to access unsecured internet connections from out of sight of the transmitter.

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New LIDAR chip will sharpen aerial mapping and autonomous car vision

Handheld laser rangefinders have been available to consumers for years, but increasingly powerful military and industrial versions of the technology are still being developed. A new breed of LIDAR (light detection and ranging) technology is being developed and tested by the US Air Force at a base in Massachusetts. This system is capable of precisely mapping over 300 square kilometers from the belly of an airplane in about half an hour.

While it is considerably more advanced than consumer models, the new Air Force LIDAR works on the same basic principle– laser light is projected toward the target, and a sensor detects the photons upon their return. The time it takes is used to calculate the distance, to varying degrees of accuracy. In advanced systems like those used by the military, LIDAR can create a topographic map of the area it is pointed at.

LIDAR has been used for aerial mapping of disaster areas and remote archaeological sites, but the process has always taken time. After the Haiti earthquake in 2010, a system similar to the one being developed by the Air Force was able to capture a 600 square-meter section of Port-au-Prince at 30cm pixel resolution in a single pass. The chip at the heart of the next generation system is about ten times more powerful.

The Air Force system makes the process a snap by packing an unprecedented number of single-photon pixels detectors into the microchip at the core of the unit. The key to the LIDAR’s incredible speed and resolution is semiconductor technology based on indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs). These III-V semiconductors (so-called because they are made from metals in periodic groups III and V) are seen as a potential replacement for silicon in numerous applications. In this case, InGaAs semiconductors operate in the infrared spectrum, which allows for the use of longer wavelengths of light that can travel farther and scan wider areas.

InGaAsWhile these new systems are still secret, the results from chips of the type used to map Port-au-Prince are beginning to make it into industrial applications. Princeton Lightwave and a division of Boeing have both been working with single-photon InGaAs LIDAR that could one day be incorporated into automated vehicles like Google’s self-driving cars.

Current LIDAR systems are huge and are based on visible light and silicon. That means to see more than a few meters a system would need to be uncomfortably bright. Of course, InGaAs-based LIDAR has to come down in price first — Princeton Lightwave’s current industrial model costs $150,000, but it’s the size of a shoebox.

Princeton Lightwave is already in talks with car manufacturers to build a prototype LIDAR system that could point the way to the future. The military LIDAR capable of mapping cities in mere minutes won’t be much use to consumers, but it might come in handy for the greater good the next time there’s a natural disaster.

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Happiness is a warm iGun: Dumb gun requires smart watch to shoot

Despite Apple’s impending release of a supposed iWatch, the non-phone smart device industry hasn’t yet taken off. Gun company Armatix hopes to take the smart device industry by storm with its new smart gun system.
Armatix iP1 is a .22-caliber hand gun that has something of a symbiotic relationship with a paired smart watch. Thanks to a built-in RFID chip, the watch’s proximity to the gun acts as a safety. If the watch is within a close proximity, the gun will unlock — displaying a green light on the grip — and allow itself to be fired. If the watch isn’t within range, the gun won’t fire. The system is yet another step to make guns safer without making them “safe” by completely removing the public’s right to keep and bear arms.

At the beginning of this year, angel investor Ron Conway — early investor in Google and Facebook — launched a $1 million contest for inventors to create smart gun technology. In a somewhat juicy buzz quote, he said, “We need the iPhone of guns,” referencing the iPhone 5S’ Touch ID sensor. Of course, that kind of technology would ultimately need to be improved, as Apple’s Touch ID is much too finicky for a life and death situation, nor would it help your family member if you’re not around and they need to access the weapon in an emergency without having previously keyed in their biometric data.

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