Penn State engineers have
shown that a white-LED system for lighting and
high data-rate indoor wireless communications,
coupled with broadband over either medium- or
low-voltage power line grids (BPL), can offer
transmission capacities that exceed DSL or cable
and are more secure than RF.
Recently, white LEDs have emerged in the market
and are considered as replacements for
incandescent and fluorescent bulbs.
Some researchers predict that by 2012, tiny
white LEDs will deliver light brighter than a 60
watt-bulb, yet draw only as much current as
provided by four D-size batteries. A Japanese team
recently suggested using white LEDs not only for
lighting but also as light sources for wireless
in-house communications.
Now, Mohsen Kavehrad, the W.L. Weiss professor
of electrical engineering and director of the
Center for Information and Communications
Technology Research, and his team have shown that,
in the system they designed, coupling white LEDs
to BPL can deliver secure, wireless bit rates of a
gigabit per second, a rate exceeded only by fiber.
In the Penn State system, white LEDs are
positioned so that the room is lit as uniformly as
possible. Since the LEDs are plugged into the
room's electrical system, broadband data, voice or
video delivered via the power lines can piggyback
on the light that fills the room to reach any
wireless-receiving devices present.
Since light does not penetrate walls, as do the
microwaves used in RF, the white LED system is
more secure. In addition, there are no known
health hazards associated with exposure to LED
light.
"White LEDs low-energy consumption will make
them especially attractive. In the future, when
you turn on the lights for indoor low-cost
lighting, you could receive broadband via the same
white-light LED."
For more information, visit: http://live.psu.edu/story/15411
or Tel: 814-865-9481
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