Using LED Ceiling Lights For Digital Communication 143
PatPending writes "A Minnesota start-up company, LVX, is developing products under several patents and about a dozen pending applications, e.g., 'Building illumination apparatus with integrated communications, security and energy management,' that put clusters of LEDs in a standard-sized ceiling light fixture. The LEDs are in optical communication with special modems attached to office computers. The first generation of the LVX system will transmit data at speeds of about three megabits per second, roughly as fast as a residential DSL line. LVX Chief Executive Officer John Pederson said a second-generation system that will roll out in about a year will permit speeds on par with commercial Wi-Fi networks. It will also permit lights that can be programmed to change intensity and color. Pederson said the next generation of the system should get even more efficient as fixtures become 'smart' so the lights would dim when bright sunlight is coming through a window or when a conference room or hallway is empty. Hurdles: speed and installation costs. No word on the reliability and security of this system."
Another link (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Possible patent suit approaching? (Score:4, Informative)
Google wants to help (although they dont take credit for the kohls devices) http://www.altierre.com/index.html [altierre.com]
useless (Score:4, Informative)
The first generation of the LVX system will transmit data at speeds of about three megabits per second, roughly as fast as a residential DSL line.
Is that physical layer rate? If so, what's the rate after protocol overhead?
Let's assume that is the physical layer rate. Which would make it three and a half times slower than 802.11b, and 18 times slower than 802.11g, which is virtually everywhere. And, drumroll please, at least one hundred times slower than 802.11n, which is 300-600Mbit/sec (physical layer speed.)