Chinese Researchers Transmit 150 Mb/s Over Li-Fi
Li-Fi is in sight!
There have been some rumors recently about the upcoming technology known as light fidelity, otherwise known as Li-Fi. It appears to have reached a new milestone in the research phase -- a transfer speed of 150 Mb/s in practical applications. Earlier this year, a German research team managed to reach speeds of about 1 Gb/s, however, this was in a lab environment and probably not replicable in practical applications.
Li-Fi is a wireless technology based not on radio waves but as the name indicates, on light. Supposedly, a single 1 W LED bulb is enough for about 150 Mb/s of data, which should be able to network about four PCs. The technology also goes by the term VLC (Visible Light Communications). Of course, unsurprisingly and unlike Wi-Fi, a direct line of sight is required between the sender and receiver. From a security point of view, using light as a communications method has many benefits. That said, Mom and Dad will always be able to tell when you're on the Internet late at night.
So far, the research team has not provided any videos or other proof of the technology. However, we expect that to change November 5, 2013 when the team is hoping to reveal the technology at the China International Industry Fair.
On another note, NASA has just announced that it has managed to reach transfer speeds of 622 MB/s, using lasers, to and from the moon -- a distance of over 239,000 miles!

Anything that can be done on an FPGA can be done more efficiently as an ASIC. FPGAs are simply used to prototype logic (subject to the FPGA's own limitations) as it can be reconfigured simply by recompiling the design. This is useful for working out bugs before sending the design off for fabrication.
Probably streaming some porn.
The fast blinking of the data carrier frequency is well beyond human perception.
Well, we will need a lot of mirror in our house...
Mmmmmm, this pumpkin pie is full of so much delicious information!
... How much pie to I need to eat to learn kung fu?
Not as many hurdles as you might think. There was a neat TED Talk (last year I think?) about using LED house lights as a transmitter of data throughout a home. The variation in light is so fast and subtle that you would never pick it up with your eyes, and it can operate at such low light that it can still work while in practical darkness.
The thought would be to get your router, plug an Ethernet port into some sort of power-line modulator, and then use special light-bulbs that have the capability to both send and receive signal. Or perhaps make a hybrid system where wifi is used for upstream communication and lifi is use for downstream communication which would make the light bulbs substantially cheaper, and get around the bulk of the traffic which congests apartment complexes.
Anywho, I still think wired networking is the way to go whenever possible. Wireless communication should be reserved for low bandwidth portable devices.
Imagine the potential of any 'digital' light source carrying data - Car Lights, Store Signage, Traffic Lights - Not necessarily internet but application specific data.