Infrared light for 1Gbps wireless transfers

The wireless WiFi networks of today can reach transfer rates up to 300Mbps. Unfortunately this is just a theoretic maximum that few, if anyone, can achieve at regular use. Graduate student Jarir Fadlullah and Professor Mohsen Kavehrad at Penn State University built a wireless system that can transfer data at rates up to 1Gbps. The speeds are accomplished with light and not radio waves, infrared light to be exact.

The great about this is that there is more to get, 1Gbps is far from the maximal transfer rate according to Kavehrad and Fadlullah, as their measurements points to that there is room for much higher speeds.

Others claim this is probably the next generation of wireless communication systems and the key is the use of diffused light, which means there is no need to worry about keeping a free line of sight between transmitter and receiver.

”Companies such as Intel, InterDigital, Siemens, Sony, Samsung, Mitsubishi, and Sanyo are all pursuing research on optical wireless networks, say Kavehrad and Xu. Several of these companies are members of the Infrared Data Association (IrDA), an industry organization that is developing technical standards for infrared wireless communications.”

Wireless system based on light signals are not capable of penetrating walls or other solid objects, which limits the range but at the same time makes it safer. Also, with light, there is no risk of interference and such that you may experience with radio based systems.