July/August 2019

n TECHNOLOGY ACONSORTIUMOF EU businesses and academic partners has embarked on a three-year project to develop a next-generation wireless communications technology that will transmit Internet of Things (IoT) data using light rather than radio waves. The IoT is placing an increasing demand on the data rates, reliability and latency of wireless connections. With many IoT devices having to communicate in confined spaces, the demand for radio frequencies is increasing rapidly. The ELIoT (Enhance Lighting for the Internet of Things) project will explore and promote the use of networked wireless communication technologies operating in the previously unused light spectrum. “LiFi” is already being used in some offices, schools and medical facilities. In tests, it has reached speeds of 224Gb/s – about 100 times faster than WiFi. The visible-light spectrum is 10,000 times wider than the RF spectrum and transmissions do not need to be licenced. LiFi does not cause electromagnetic interference, and one of its potential drawbacks – its inability to pass through sold structures such as walls – also offers potential benefits in terms of security. In one of the first industrial applications, Babcock has installed LiFi at its Connected Facility testbed in Plymouth. It is using the LiFi technology – supplied by the Scottish start-up, pureLiFi – to gather data from vibration sensors on six air compressors, and to connect a LiFi-enabledWindows tablet to access support and maintenance data such as manuals and 3D models. LiFi can perform well in environments where the use of certain radio frequencies is not possible or is prohibited. It could, for example, help to meet higher network demands in applications such as software-controlled production, virtual and augmented reality, and autonomous driving. The project, which is backed by the EU’s Horizon 2020 r&d programme, will receive €6m in funding from a public-private partnership called Photonics21. Participants include Signify (formerly Philips Lighting), Nokia, Deutsche Telekom, Weidmüller, Oxford University, and two Fraunhofer Institutes. More companies are expected to join. “LiFi can deliver high-speed communication, interference-free with high reliability,”says ELIoT’s co- founder, Prof Jean-Paul Linnartz, who also leads LiFi research at Signify.“The available spectrum can be fully re-used in every room. The lighting infrastructure is in an excellent position to provide connectivity for the rapidly increasing number of wireless devices.” LiFi can increase the speed and amount of data that can be transmitted wirelessly abolgruO rewop ngised elehtsi RDTIS :edulcnisrentrapselasl ekarb tcele egral RUG .snoitulosnoissimsnart foselasdnanoitcudorp, rofdnarblabolggnida SNOITULOSEVI O fas cni iat I tnerrucahtiw,s dnasehctulccitengamor forerutcafunamts s’dlrowehtsiA W ytefas,srepmub,stamyte evitisnes-erusserpedul hcihwsnoitulosytefasderol sre5onoitamotuAED as-slap.www cesytsudnifoyteira tekramevitcee-tsoc uohtiwkrowsrentrap sytefasdnasnoitulos merpehtsiselaS-SLA sdnasnoitulos pmuimerpruoY P v r moc.sel .snoitacilppadnasrot anisnoitulosgnidael edivopotsremotsucr selaslabolgruO.smetsy evirdrofrentrapmui smetssytefa evirdrofrentra y r s.www elbailer q-hgih ngised omasi ols’TIS mpiuqe nidesu pesehT @selas www Idna arugO ilppa emot udorp htiW vofo una moc.apsti .snoitulosevitavonni dnastcudorpytilau edivorpotygolonhcetdna tra-eht-fo-etatsfoled yrotsihsuoigitserpdnagn .senihcamdnatne lairtsudnitnere5idynam ylnommocerastcudor m 9267744+ moc.selas-slap ww na ele pa los erc niS fas d moc.hctulc-arugo. .defiitrec94961ST/OS 10041,002-1009OSIsi .stnemeriuqernoitac cfiicepsruoyte erussiarugO,noitc nisledom000,3revo .raeyrepstinunoillim03re yticapacgnirutcaf e 30942 moc.noitamotuaediw.w .senihcamlairtsudnid selcihevnevirdyllacirtc gnidulcnisnoitacilp suoiravrofsnoitu ytefasfoegnaragnita neebevahyeht8991ec .noitamotuafoedise eht,stinulortnocdnaseg Project aims to transmit IoT data on beams of light MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC claims to have developed the world's first diagnostic technology that uses machine learning to analyse sensor data, thus detecting machine abnormalities rapidly and accurately, and helping to improve productivity. Unlike conventional diagnostic technologies, which use the same conditions to detect abnormalities, regardless of a machine's current operating state, the new technology analyses sensor data to generate a model of the machine’s transition between various states. It uses this model to set optimal conditions for detecting abnormalities. Mitsubishi says that the technology will detect signs of machinery failure before breakdowns occur, helping to reduce the costs associated with performing maintenance and dealing with downtime. The company adds that with maintenance regimes shifting from time-based periodic measurements to condition- based techniques, the need for accurate abnormality-detecting technologies is growing. The way that machines are used is also changing, in turn affecting advance signs of machine abnormalities which depend on a machine’s usage and state of operation. ‘First’ AI-based diagnostics will cut downtime and boost productivity