A recent study has sprung open some major new prospects for the Internet of Things (IoT) market. The study reveals that with some modifications, a consumer-grade light emitting diode bulb also commonly known as an LED, can be used for connecting devices such as wearable devices, toys, appliances, utilities and sensors that could consist the In
Consumer-grade light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs can, with some modifications, be used for connecting devices such as appliances, wearable devices, sensors, toys and utilities that could comprise the IoT.
Speaking at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), Markus Gross from the Disney Research lab revealed that interconnecting sensors, appliances and a variety of other devices into the IoT may offer many potential benefits but making use of radio links to do the same will end up making the radio spectrum an even scarcer resource than it already is.
Markus further added, "Visible light communication (VLC) networks conserve the radio spectrum, while also making it difficult to eavesdrop for anyone out of line of sight of the network."
If individual LED bulbs are made to alternate between sending modulated light signals, and then doubling up as receivers of signals, one can create a network of bulbs that is capable of connecting devices and sending messages to each other, while having no major effect on the lighting of the room.
Such a VLC system was implemented by Disney Research's Stefan Schmid in ETH to demonstrate how feasible is a VLC system in interconnecting various devices within a room.
The findings of the study were revealed to the world recently in London at the IEEE International Conference 2016 on Sensing, Communication and Networking.
Talking about the study's findings, Schmid mentioned how they made use of the off-the-shelf and commercially available LED light bulbs as their study's starting point.
He shared since the LED bulbs are something which are easily available at a low cost and can be used in any lamp using standard sockets, they are a flexible and easy-to-setup testbed that can be easily replicated.
However, the LED bulbs used in the study were modified. In order to modify the bulbs according to the hypothesis, the researchers added a "System-on-a-Chip" which ran an embedded version of Linux to each of the LED bulb, as well as photodiodes in an effort to enhance the sensing quality of the incoming signals and an extra power supply for the electronics that were added.
Well, if the study is true, we sure have something major coming our way in the filed of IoT.
[Top Image - Shutterstock]
Consumer-grade light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs can, with some modifications, be used for connecting devices such as appliances, wearable devices, sensors, toys and utilities that could comprise the IoT.
Speaking at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), Markus Gross from the Disney Research lab revealed that interconnecting sensors, appliances and a variety of other devices into the IoT may offer many potential benefits but making use of radio links to do the same will end up making the radio spectrum an even scarcer resource than it already is.
Markus further added, "Visible light communication (VLC) networks conserve the radio spectrum, while also making it difficult to eavesdrop for anyone out of line of sight of the network."
If individual LED bulbs are made to alternate between sending modulated light signals, and then doubling up as receivers of signals, one can create a network of bulbs that is capable of connecting devices and sending messages to each other, while having no major effect on the lighting of the room.
Such a VLC system was implemented by Disney Research's Stefan Schmid in ETH to demonstrate how feasible is a VLC system in interconnecting various devices within a room.
The findings of the study were revealed to the world recently in London at the IEEE International Conference 2016 on Sensing, Communication and Networking.
Talking about the study's findings, Schmid mentioned how they made use of the off-the-shelf and commercially available LED light bulbs as their study's starting point.
He shared since the LED bulbs are something which are easily available at a low cost and can be used in any lamp using standard sockets, they are a flexible and easy-to-setup testbed that can be easily replicated.
However, the LED bulbs used in the study were modified. In order to modify the bulbs according to the hypothesis, the researchers added a "System-on-a-Chip" which ran an embedded version of Linux to each of the LED bulb, as well as photodiodes in an effort to enhance the sensing quality of the incoming signals and an extra power supply for the electronics that were added.
Well, if the study is true, we sure have something major coming our way in the filed of IoT.
[Top Image - Shutterstock]
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