Internet speeds of up to 100Gbit/s in your home might not be a thing of fantasy much longer thanks to new Li-Fi esque technology being developed by one of the country's most successful universities.
A team from Oxford University have successfully designed a system that takes light from fibre-optic cables and brings it straight into the living room to deliver data transfer speeds that could one day top 3Tbit/s.
The system, which is still in its early stages, works through a base system installed on the ceiling of the room and this would then project light to the computer to send the data and also be able to receive data sent from the computer in the other direction. Unfortunately the current version still requires a direct line of sight thus making it unlikely it'll enter homes any time soon.
Wi-Fi only offers 7Gbit/s
To bypass that requirement the team is already working on a tracking and location system to allow users to place a laptop PC at any location on a table in the same room as the base station and then having the system find it.
In comparison to the 3Tbit/s speeds offered by the Li-fi-like offering, Wi-Fi currently tops out at around 7Gbit/s and with the thirst for faster speeds only likely to continue, the fibre-to-the-device will be a technology that emerges even more in the coming years.
Via: IEEE
