First Ceiling Light Internet Systems Installed

An anonymous reader writes "We last heard about LVX's LED ceiling light optical communication system in December, and now news has broken that the company recently implemented the technology at several city offices in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The LVX/ceiling light system is capable of transmitting data at about three megabits per second, which is about as fast as a residential DSL line. It works by placing light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in a standard-sized light fixture. This then transmits coded binary messages to the special modems attached to computers, which also respond via light waves."

Re:Two-Way?

[natehoy]

From the summary:

This then transmits coded binary messages to the special modems attached to computers, which also respond via light waves."

Re:Welcome to 1994...

[noidentity]

Transmitting the data through the air, you mean like WiFi and cell phones do all the time? Too bad we don't have a way to scramble the data in a way that makes its contents inaccessible unless someone has the "key"...

Magnetic Radio Waves

[Catskul]

"It is better than traditional wireless communication since systems such as WI-FI, 3G Networks and Bluetooth all require magnetic radio waves."

Oh, so that's the difference between light and other parts of the EM spectrum. Here I always thought it was just wave length...

I'm glad that science reporter was there to help educate the public. >:/