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Re:HD video demonstrated streaming over a light bulb by owenmarshall on Friday August 05, 2011 @01:10PM (#2850787)
>More of the problem is that it doesn't work room to room, only line of sight like with a remote control.

If you could cheaply make the lights transmit and receive, and if the data were recoverable at very low illumination, you could employ mesh routing -- there's often quite a bit of overlap from lightbulb to lightbulb.

But you're correct -- answering the LoS problem is significant. This could be very useful in many applications, but it's no silver bullet.

Re:HD video demonstrated streaming over a light bulb by aganick on Friday August 05, 2011 @04:06PM (#2851516)
While the LoS aspect is potentially desirable in specific applications, I agree that initially it can be perceived as a limiting factor. Researchers at Boston University,Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Nakagawa Lab in Japan are working with software tools to characterize non LoS applications using reflective and refractive surfaces found indoors. A powerful system can be envisioned if someone managed to utilize these principles with a device that contains a receiver with a wide view.
Re:HD video demonstrated streaming over a light bulb by Magnin on Friday August 05, 2011 @04:09PM (#2851533)
Or you have a "networked" light socket in each room and a discovery protocol to figure out what room to route the data to. More work on the initial infrastructure side, but then you don't have to worry about mesh- your room is covered.