CES: Highlights from the 2022 CES Unveiled Pre-Show Event

ETC’s George Gerba visited the CES Unveiled show floor in Las Vegas Monday evening looking for companies and products that would be of interest to our members, illustrate emerging trends, or are simply unusual. Gerba discovered a range of compelling technologies across areas such as blockchain, non-fungible tokens, Li-Fi, wearables, large-scale video screens, the metaverse, remote work, cell signal boosters, health, batteries and more. Among the more interesting companies at CES Unveiled this year were Icecap, Oledcomm, Somalytics, VideowindoW, Toraru, SureCall, Biospectal, Prinker, Airxom and Nanotech Energy.  Continue reading CES: Highlights from the 2022 CES Unveiled Pre-Show Event

Fraunhofer Experiments with LED Broadband Possibilities

Here is an example of what is sure to make you think differently about broadband connections: an emerging field of LED broadband aims to turn light bulbs into data transmitters by manipulating the rate at which they flicker. German company Fraunhofer is researching these types of optical communications technologies and has discovered a lighting system that delivers up to 3 Gbps. Continue reading Fraunhofer Experiments with LED Broadband Possibilities

Li-Fi: Using LEDs to Transmit Data at One Gigabit Per Second

The University of Strathclyde in the UK has created the Intelligent Lighting Centre (ILC), a consortium comprised of researchers from several universities, to investigate ways to transmit Internet communications using LED lights. The research focuses on using the flickering of LED lights to transmit messages using visible light rather than radio waves, Wi-Fi signals, cell signals or cables. Continue reading Li-Fi: Using LEDs to Transmit Data at One Gigabit Per Second

LED Technology as Option for Wireless Data Transmission

  • We may see “Li-Fi” wireless in the future, as visible light communications and light-based data transmission technology continue to advance.
  • Professor Harald Haas of the University of Edinburgh recently demonstrated a prototype of the technology at the TEDGlobal conference in Scotland.
  • Haas used an LED bulb to transmit a video that was projected onto a screen behind him (at 10 megabits per second). He plans to reach 100 megabits per second by the end of the year.
  • This approach may become a viable alternative for wireless communication as mobile devices continue to tax the radio spectrum.
  • It is interesting to note that the idea of using light to send information is not new. Alexander Graham Bell sent a wireless phone message in 1880 using his Photophone.