When it comes to efficiency and quality, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are the MVP of today’s lighting technology. A team of Chinese researchers is using recent LED improvements as a starting point to launch a more interconnected lighting network. In their study, published September 30, 2022, Intelligent and integrated network, They proposed the concept of the Internet of Light interfacing with the Internet of Things to improve human health and well-being by providing information services.
Jian Song, professor of electronic engineering at Tsinghua University, said:
Because LEDs are silicon-based, they can facilitate deep integration of lighting networks with various electronic and intelligent control mechanisms at low cost. In addition to lighting control, researchers in the information and communication technology (ICT) field have demonstrated the feasibility of what they call visible light communication (VLC), which transmits information by modulating the light intensity of LEDs. This form of communication can simultaneously support localization, data transmission, and even information services such as optical therapy without causing eye strain or injury.
“Rapid progress in related fields of ICT and human sciences motivated us to propose the idea of the Internet of Light (IoL) as a platform and develop its key features,” said Song.
To integrate IoL with ubiquitous lighting networks, researchers combine sensors, communication modules, and smart processing units with individual LED lamps to form ‘nodes’ by means such as power line communication (PLC) and 5G wireless communication. communication technology was adopted. networking.
Consisting of specially designed sensing nodes, IoL sensor networks can collect information such as light intensity, color, levels of harmful gases, and moving objects.
Applications of this type of IoL include ‘smart’ nursing homes that can locate residents for safety and security reasons and detect gas leaks in kitchens in a timely manner. By automatically adjusting light intensity and color, it can be used to customize a comfortable environment to the user’s preferences or as a means of delivering light therapy.
To address these functions effectively and efficiently, researchers developed algorithms and performed hardware experiments to demonstrate system performance for high-speed data delivery. This included experimenting with a real-time beam alignment VLC design that can quickly adjust the direction of the radiation source depending on the user’s position.
Researchers can optimize resources under different constraints, such as communication and location services to allocate different frequencies and power, and communication and lighting to meet different lighting requirements, including intensity and uniformity. I investigated.
Hui Yang, Professor of Electronics Engineering at Tsinghua University, said:
To support applications such as video transmission and real-time positioning, researchers are investigating scheduling algorithms that can meet the stringent timing requirements of base stations and minimize delays.
Previous studies have demonstrated that light can be used to treat certain skin and neurodegenerative diseases, demonstrating the potential for non-invasive phototherapy. The team explored this possibility by designing an experiment of optical strobe illumination using the flicker frequency of LED lights.
Xiaofei Wang, professor of electronic engineering at Tsinghua University, said: “This demonstrates that the IoL platform may be able to modulate human emotions and brain activity by intelligently and automatically controlling the flicker frequency of light sources.”
As a future step, researchers plan to integrate individual technologies into environments like nursing homes, where they can benefit from smart sensing, communication and optimization under resource constraints. .
The combination of lighting and environment creates a highly interactive, complex and dynamic system, with great differences and great diversity for individual people,” said Luoxi Hao, professor at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University. says. “The benefits of real-time perception, instant response and seamless information interconnection supported by IoL could play a key role in realizing human-centric lighting concepts.”
Original: Internet of Light unites lighting, communications and ministry
Than: Tsinghua University | Tsinghua University Tongji University
