What is “Smart Lighting”, and why might it be the future of wireless communications?

Boston University’s College of Engineering is working on a way to replace your normal “dumb lights” with “smart lights” that would be capable of transmitting data.  The bulbs would flicker at a rate imperceptible to the human eye and would initially be able to transmit data around 1 to 10 mbps (mega-bits per second), not blistering fast, but it shows promise.

This whole technology would be based on light transmitting the data, and that is where this whole concept gets interesting.  As we mentioned in 2.4 GHz vs 5.8 GHz Cordless Phones, the radio bands are filling up with devices, especially the 2.4 GHzband, and this would free up things considerably.  The problem is, the majority of devices currently run on the 802.11g Wi-Fi standard which transmits at 54 mbps.  The Smart Lighting would be considerably slower when it is first released, but that is sure to change with time.

The most exciting part is that it should remove some of the problems inherent with traditional Wi-Fi inside of buildings where it has trouble passing through walls and over distance. Essentially this set up would make sure that is light is shining on a device, you are receiving a broadband signal.  While I’m not sure how the lights connect to the central router, but depending on how it would do so, every light in an office would become a transmitter, making the entire building into a connected hotspot.

No word on how long, if ever, before this technology comes out, but it is a very promising concept.