A "smart lighting" initiative being funded by the government seeks to piggyback wireless communications capabilities onto future LED lighting installations to provide more broadband access points. The $18.5 million, 10-year National Science Foundation program involves more than 30 university researchers from Boston University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and the University of New Mexico (Albuquerque). The initiative seeks to use visible light beams for communications between wireless devices and LED-based lighting fixtures. The LED-based scheme could also be used to communicate between automobiles that are increasingly using LEDs. The overall goal is to build new communications capbilities into all LED lights while alleviating congestion in current RF bands.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210800583
