Wireless Data Transfer Using LEDs

Siemens researchers are able to wirelessly transfer data at 500 Mbps using white LED light

In collaboration with the Heinrich Hertz Institute in Berlin, Siemens has achieved a data transfer rate of up to 500 megabits per second (Mbit/s), significantly bettering Siemens' previous record of 200 Mbit/s. Wireless data transport by means of light paves the way for new applications in the home as well as in industry and transportation. The researchers used an Ostar LED, one of the brightest LEDs on the market.

Using a white light-emitting diode produced by the Siemens subsidiary Osram, the researchers from Corporate Technology in Munich succeeded in transmitting data over a distance of up to 15 feet of empty space. The data are directly transferred by modulating, via the power supply, the amount of light emitted by the LED.

The researchers used an Ostar LED, one of the brightest LEDs on the market, which can be modulated at such a frequency that data transfer rates of up to 500 Mbit/s are possible. The resulting changes in brightness remain imperceptible to the human eye. The receiver is a photodetector which converts the light signals into electrical pulses.

Siemens