Future Tech: Visible Light Communications

Visible Light Communication uses light emitting diodes (LEDs), for the dual role of illumination and data transmission. Using the visible light spectrum, which is free and less crowded than other frequencies, wireless services can be piggy-backed over existing lighting installations. With this leading edge technology, data including video and audio, internet traffic, etc, can be transmitted at high speeds using LED light.
Prof Harald Haas leads the EPSRC-funded D-LIGHT project at the School of Electronics and Engineering at the University of Edinburgh.
VLC technology has the potential to deliver data transfer rates in excess of hundreds of megabits per second. Light radiation neither constitutes nor suffers from electromagnetic interference (EMI) making VLC a very attractive technology in places/environments where electromagnetic interference (EMI) is an issue, such as in hospitals and in aircraft. In addition, where security of local communication is important eg defence and fanance applications, D-Light technology offers a secure medium for communication in an office/building environment.
The two year D-Light project is midway through its funding. The main commercial goal is the formation of a University of Edinburgh spinout company, hopefully starting in 2012.

VLC Applications:

A wide range of applications would benefit from using novel visible light communications:

• WiFi Spectrum Relief - Providing additional bandwidth in environments where licensed and/or unlicensed communication bands are congested
• Smart Home Network – Enabling smart domestic/industrial lighting; home wireless communication including media streaming and internet access
• Commercial Aviation – Enabling wireless data communications such as in-flight entertainment and personal communications
• Hazardous Environments- Enabling data communications in environments where RF is potentially dangerous, such as oil & gas, petrochemicals and mining
• Hospital and Healthcare – Enabling mobility and data communications in hospitals
• Defence and Military Applications – Enabling high data rate wireless communications within military vehicles and aircraft
• Corporate and Organisational Security – Enabling the use of wireless networks in applications where (WiFi) presents a security risk
• Underwater Communications – Enabling communications between divers and/or remote operated vehicles
• Location-Based Services – Enabling navigation and tracking inside buildings.

The two year D-Light project is midway through its funding. The main commercial goal is the formation of a University of Edinburgh spinout company, hopefully starting in 2012.

IBM building largest drive ever, can hold 24 million HD movies

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It wasn't that long ago that desktop and notebook computers came with just enough hard drive spaceto get you by. These days, however, most new systems come with ample storage space for the majority of the population, but power users still might find their drives filling up quite quickly with music, movies, and games. But fear not, media lovers, IBM can build you a data drive with 120 petabytes of storage to hold every music, movie, and picture you've ever seen — and all you need is a deep bank account and a team of computer scientists to build it.

The ambitious project is currently underway at IBM, where researchers are working with 200,000 individual hard drives to create the single largest digital storage space known to man. When complete, the drive will have 120 million gigabytes of capacity, which is enough room to store roughly 24 million feature length HD movies. The epic drive also allows old or broken components to be swapped out without losing any data or requiring costly downtime.

IBM is crafting the custom storage center for an unnamed client that needs to perform massive simulations. The company hasn't revealed the cost of the project, but with IBM engineers taking on the task, you can bet it's not being built for a home office.