ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Harald Haas - Communications technology innovator
Harald Haas is the pioneer behind a new technology that can communicate as well as illuminate.

Why you should listen

Imagine using your car headlights to transmit data ... or surfing the web safely on a plane, tethered only by a line of sight. Harald Haas is working on it. He currently holds the Chair of Mobile Communications at the University of Edinburgh, and is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of pureLiFi Ltd as well as the Director of the LiFi Research and Development Center at the University of Edinburgh. His main research interests are in optical wireless communications, hybrid optical wireless and RF communications, spatial modulation, and interference coordination in wireless networks.

Haas has long been studying ways to communicate electronic data signals, designing modulation techniques that pack more data onto existing networks. But his latest work leaps beyond wires and radio waves to transmit data via an LED bulb that glows and darkens faster than the human eye can see. His group published the first proof-of-concept results demonstrating that it is possible to to turn commercially available light emitting diode (LED) light bulbs into broadband wireless transmission systems. 

"It should be so cheap that it's everywhere," he says. "Using the visible light spectrum, which comes for free, you can piggy-back existing wireless services on the back of lighting equipment."

More profile about the speaker
Harald Haas | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2011

Harald Haas: Wireless data from every light bulb

Harald Haas: haririk gabeko datuak foku gori bakoitzetik

Filmed:
2,722,597 views

Zer gertatuko litzateke foku gori guztiek datuak igorriko balituzte? TEDGlobal-en Harald Haas-ek erakusten du, lehenengo aldiz, hori egin dezaken gailu batek. LED arrunta batetik argia kliska egitean, gizakiaren begirako oso aldaketa azkarregia eta antzemanezina gertatzen da, gailuak telekomunikazio dorreak baino datu gehiago igor ditzake -- eta oso era eraginkor, ziur eta zabalean egiten du.
- Communications technology innovator
Harald Haas is the pioneer behind a new technology that can communicate as well as illuminate. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
Do you know
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Ba al dakizu
00:17
that we have 1.4 million cellular radio masts
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telefonia mugikorraren 1,4 milioi antena ditugula
00:20
deployed worldwide?
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mundu osoan zehar jarrita?
00:22
And these are base stations.
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Eta horiek base-estazioak dira.
00:24
And we also have
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Eta badaukagu ere bai
00:26
more than five billion
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horrelako 5.000 milioi gailu
00:28
of these devices here.
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baino gehiago hemen.
00:30
These are cellular mobile phones.
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Hauek telefono mugikorrak dira.
00:33
And with these mobile phones,
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Eta telefono mugikor horiekin,
00:35
we transmit more than 600 terabytes of data
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600 terabite datu baino gehiago
00:37
every month.
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igortzen ditugu hilero.
00:39
This is a 6 with 14 zeroes --
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Hau da 6 gehi 14 zero --
00:41
a very large number.
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oso zenbaki handia, benetan.
00:43
And wireless communications
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Eta haririk gabeko komunikazioak
00:46
has become a utility
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zerbitzu publiko bihurtu dira
00:49
like electricity and water.
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elektrizitatea eta ura bezala.
00:51
We use it everyday. We use it in our everyday lives now --
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Egun guztietan erabiltzen ditugu.
Baita eguneroko bizitzetan ere gaur egun --
00:54
in our private lives, in our business lives.
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bizitza pribatuetan, gure negozioetan.
00:56
And we even have to be asked sometimes, very kindly,
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Eta noizean behin eskatu behar gaituzte mesedez
01:00
to switch off the mobile phone at events like this
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gure telefono mugikorrak amatatzeko honelako gertakizunetan
01:02
for good reasons.
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arrazoi on batzuk direla eta.
01:05
And it's this importance
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Eta garrantzi hau kontuan hartuta
01:07
why I decided to look into the issues
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nik erabaki nuen aztertzea
01:09
that this technology has,
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teknologia honen inguruan,
01:11
because it's so fundamental to our lives.
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gure bizitzarako funtsezkoa delako.
01:14
And one of the issues is capacity.
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Eta esparru horietako arazo bat ahalmena da.
01:16
The way we transmit wireless data is by using electromagnetic waves --
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Haririk gabeko datuak igortzeko era da
uhin elektromagnetikoen zehar --
01:19
in particular, radio waves.
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zehazki, irrati-uhinen zehar.
01:22
And radio waves are limited.
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Eta irrati-uhin mugatuak dauzkagu.
01:24
They are scarce; they are expensive;
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Urriak dira, garestiak dira,
01:26
and we only have a certain range of it.
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eta tarte zehatz bat besterik ez dugu.
01:30
And it's this limitation
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Eta mugaketa hau
01:32
that doesn't cope
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ez dator bat
01:34
with the demand of wireless data transmissions
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haririk gabeko datu-igorketaren eskaerarekin
01:36
and the number of bytes and data which are transmitted every month.
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eta hilero igortzen diren datuekin eta byte-kopuruekin.
01:39
And we are simply running out of spectrum.
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Eta espektrotik kanpo gaude oraintxe bertan.
01:41
There's another problem.
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Badago beste arazo bat.
01:43
That is efficiency.
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Eraginkortasuna da.
01:45
These 1.4 million cellular radio masts, or base stations,
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Telefonia mugikorraren 1,4 milioi antena horiek edo base-estazioek
01:48
consume a lot of energy.
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energia asko xahutzen dute.
01:50
And mind you, most of the energy
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Eta, aizue, energia horien gehiengoa
01:52
is not used to transmit the radio waves,
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ez da erabiltzen irrati-uhinak igortzeko
01:54
it is used to cool the base stations.
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baizik eta base-estazioak hozteko.
01:57
Then the efficiency of such a base station
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Orduan base-estazio bakoitzaren eraginkortasuna
01:59
is only at about five percent.
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%5a da soilik.
02:02
And that creates a big problem.
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Eta horrek arazo handia sortzen du.
02:05
Then there's another issue that you're all aware of.
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Gero badago beste arazo bat
eta uste dut jakitun zaretela.
02:08
You have to switch off your mobile phone
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Telefono mugikorrak amatatu behar dituzue
02:10
during flights.
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hegazkinetan
02:12
In hospitals, they are security issues.
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ospitaletan, segurtasun arrazoiak direla eta.
02:15
And security is another issue.
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Eta segurtasuna beste arazo bat da.
02:18
These radio waves penetrate through walls.
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Irrati-uhinek hormak zeharkatzen dituzte.
02:20
They can be intercepted,
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Norbaitek geldiarazi ditzake,
02:22
and somebody can make use of your network
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eta gizaki batek zuen sarea erabil dezake
02:25
if he has bad intentions.
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intentzio txarrekoa bada.
02:27
So these are the main four issues.
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Orduan hauexek dira lau arazo handienak.
02:29
But on the other hand,
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Baina beste aldetik,
02:31
we have 14 billion of these:
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14.000 milioi
02:33
light bulbs, light.
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foku gori dauzkagu, argia.
02:36
And light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
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Eta argia espektro elektromagnetikoaren zatia da.
02:39
So let's look at this in the context
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Orduan hau ikus dezagun
02:41
of the entire electromagnetic spectrum, where we have gamma rays.
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espektro elektromagnetikoaren inguru osoan,
non gamma izpiak dauden.
02:44
You don't want to get close to gamma rays, it could be dangerous.
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Ez da komenigarria gamma izpien ondoan egotea,
arriskutsua izan liteke.
02:46
X-rays, useful when you go to hospitals.
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X-izpiak, oso erabilgarriak ospitaletan.
02:49
Then there's ultraviolet light.
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Eta argi ultramorea
02:51
it's good for a nice suntan,
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ona da beltzaran kolorea hartzeko,
02:53
but otherwise dangerous for the human body.
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baina arriskutsua gizakiaren gorputzerako.
02:55
Infrared --
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Infragorriak --
02:57
due to eye safety regulations,
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begien segurtasun arauak direla eta,
02:59
can be only used with low power.
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behe potentzian erabil daitezke soilik.
03:01
And then we have the radio waves, they have the issues I've just mentioned.
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Eta, amaitzeko, irrati-uhinak dauzkagu,
arestian aipatu ditudan arazoekin.
03:04
And in the middle there, we have this visible light spectrum.
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Eta hor erdian, argi ikusgaiaren espektroa daukagu.
03:07
It's light,
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Argia da
03:09
and light has been around for many millions of years.
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eta argia urte askotan zehar existitu egin da.
03:11
And in fact, it has created us,
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Eta, egia esanda, berak sortu gaitu,
03:14
has created life,
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bizitza sortu egin du,
03:16
has created all the stuff of life.
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bizitzaren materia osoa sortu egin du.
03:18
So it's inherently safe to use.
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Beraz berezko segurtasuna du.
03:21
And wouldn't it be great to use that for wireless communications?
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Eta ez litzateke miragarririk izango
haririk gabeko komunikazioetarako erabiltzea?
03:25
Not only that, I compared [it to] the entire spectrum.
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Hori ez ezik, espektro osoarekin konparaketa egiten dut.
03:28
I compared the radio waves spectrum --
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Irrati-uhinen espektroarekin konparatu nuen --
03:30
the size of it --
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bere tamaina --
03:32
with the size of the visible light spectrum.
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argi ikusgaiaren espektroaren tamainarekin.
03:34
And guess what?
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Eta ezetz asmatu,
03:36
We have 10,000 times more of that spectrum,
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espektro horren 10.000 mila aldiz gehiago daukagu,
03:39
which is there for us to use.
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hortxe eskuragarri dagoena.
03:42
So not only do we have this huge amount of spectrum,
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Eta espektro kantitate handia izan ez ezik,
03:45
let's compare that with a number I've just mentioned.
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konpara dezagun arestian aipatutako zenbakiarekin.
03:47
We have 1.4 million
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Badaukagu 1,4 milioi base-estazio
03:49
expensively deployed,
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modu garestian kokatuak,
03:51
inefficient radio cellular base stations.
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eraginkor ez diren zelula-irratien base-estazioak.
03:54
And multiply that by 10,000,
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Eta egin 1,4 milioi bider 10.000,
03:56
then you end up at 14 billion.
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emaitza da 14.000 milioi.
03:58
14 billion is the number of light bulbs installed already.
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14.000 milioi da jadanik jarritako foku gorien zenbakia.
04:01
So we have the infrastructure there.
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Orduan badaukagu azpiegitura han.
04:03
Look at the ceiling, you see all these light bulbs.
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Begira ezazue sabaia, foku gori guzti horiek ikus daitezke.
04:06
Go to the main floor, you see these light bulbs.
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Zoazte solairu printzipalera, foku gori horiek ikusten dira.
04:08
Can we use them for communications?
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Komunikatzeko erabil al ditzakegu?
04:10
Yes.
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Bai.
04:12
What do we need to do?
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Zer egin behar dugu?
04:14
The one thing we need to do
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Egin behar dugun gauza bakarra da
04:16
is we have to replace these inefficient incandescent light bulbs,
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foku gori ez eraginkor horiek aldatu,
04:19
florescent lights,
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argi fluoreszenteak,
04:22
with this new technology of LED,
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LED teknologia berri honekin,
04:24
LED light bulbs.
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LED foku goriak.
04:26
An LED is a semiconductor. It's an electronic device.
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LED erdieroalea da. Gailu elektronikoa da.
04:28
And it has a very nice acute property.
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Eta LEDek oso ezaugarri polita du.
04:32
Its intensity can be modulated
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Bere intentsitatea mendera daiteke
04:35
at very high speeds,
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abiadura azkarrean,
04:37
and it can be switched off at very high speeds.
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eta amatatu daiteke abiadura azkarrean ere bai.
04:40
And this is a fundamental basic property
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Eta hau da oso funtsezko eta garrantzizko ezaugarria
04:42
that we exploit
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guk baliatzen duguna
04:44
with our technology.
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gure teknologiarekin.
04:47
So let's show how we do that.
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Orduan erakutsiko dizuegu nola egiten dugun hori.
04:49
Let's go to the closest neighbor to the visible light spectrum --
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Joan gaitezen argi-ikusgaiaren espektroaren auzokide gertuenera, --
04:51
go to remote controls.
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joan gaitezen urrutiko kontrolera.
04:53
You all know remote controls have an infrared LED --
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Zuek badakizue urrutiko kontrolek
badaukatela LED infragorri bat --
04:55
basically you switch on the LED, and if it's off, you switch it off.
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funtsean, zuek LED pizten duzue
eta amatuta badago, berriro piztu.
04:58
And it creates a simple, low-speed data stream
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Eta berak behe-abiadurako data-fluxu soila sortzen du
05:01
in 10,000 bits per second,
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10.000 bits segundoko,
05:03
20,000 bits per second.
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20.000 bits segundoko.
05:05
Not usable for a YouTube video.
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Ez da batere erabilgarria YouTubeko bideo baterako.
05:07
What we have done
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Guk egin duguna
05:09
is we have developed a technology
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teknologia garatzea besterik ez da
05:12
with which we can furthermore
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zeinekin guk, gainera, aldatu ahal izango dugun
05:15
replace the remote control of our light bulb.
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gure foku goriaren urrutiko kontrola.
05:17
We transmit with our technology,
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Guk gure teknologiarekin igortzen dugu,
05:19
not only a single data stream,
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datu-fluxu soila ez ezik,
05:21
we transmit thousands of data streams
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baita mila data-fluxu ere
05:23
in parallel,
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paraleloan,
05:25
at even higher speeds.
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eta abiadura azkarragoan.
05:27
And the technology we have developed --
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Eta guk garatu dugun teknologia --
05:29
it's called SIM OFDM.
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SIM OFDM deitzen da.
05:31
And it's spacial modulation --
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Eta espazioko modulatzea da --
05:33
these are the only technical terms, I'm not going into details --
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termino teknikoak dira, ez dut xehetasun zehatzik azalduko --
05:36
but this is how we enabled
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baina horrela lortu genuen
05:38
that light source
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argi iturriek
05:40
to transmit data.
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datuak igortzea.
05:43
You will say, "Okay, this is nice --
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Zuek esango duzue: "Aizu, hau oso polita da--
05:46
a slide created in 10 minutes."
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10 minututan sortutako aurkezpena."
05:48
But not only that.
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Baina ez da hau bakarrik.
05:50
What we've done
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Guk egin duguna da
05:52
is we have also developed a demonstrator.
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prototipo bat garatzea.
05:55
And I'm showing for the first time in public
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Eta lehenengo aldiz publikoki erakusten ari naiz
05:57
this visible light demonstrator.
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argi ikusgaiaren igorpenaren prototipoa.
05:59
And what we have here
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Eta hemen daukaguna
06:01
is no ordinary desk lamp.
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ez da idazmahaiko argi arrunta.
06:04
We fit in an LED light bulb,
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LED fokua jartzen dugu,
06:06
worth three U.S. dollars,
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3$ balio duen fokua,
06:09
put in our signal processing technology.
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eta gure datu-prozesatzeen teknologiari konektatzen diogu.
06:11
And then what we have here is a little hole.
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Eta gero hemen daukaguna zulo txiki bat da.
06:14
And the light goes through that hole.
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Eta argiak zulo hori zeharkatzen du.
06:16
There's a receiver.
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Hargailu bat dago.
06:18
The receiver will convert these little, subtle changes in the amplitude
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Hargailuak bihurtuko ditu guk anplitudean
06:21
that we create there
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sortutako aldaketa txiki eta mehe horiek
06:23
into an electrical signal.
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seinale elektriko.
06:25
And that signal is then converted back
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Eta seinale elektriko hori bihurtzen da bueltan
06:27
to a high-speed data stream.
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abiadura-handiko datu-fluxu.
06:29
In the future we hope
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Gerorako espero dugu
06:31
that we can integrate this little hole
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zulo txiki hau integratu ahal izatea
06:33
into these smart phones.
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smartphone hauetan.
06:36
And not only integrate a photo detector here,
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Eta fotoi detektagailu integratzea ez ezik,
06:39
but maybe use the camera inside.
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baita kamara integratua erabiltzea ere.
06:43
So what happens
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Eta zer gertatzen da
06:45
when I switch on that light?
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nik argia pizten dudanean?
06:50
As you would expect,
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Espero genuen bezala,
06:52
it's a light, a desk lamp.
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argia da, idazmahaiko argia.
06:54
Put your book beneath it and you can read.
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Jar ezazue liburua azpian
eta irakurri ahal izango duzue.
06:57
It's illuminating the space.
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Espazioa argitzen ari da.
06:59
But at the same time, you see this video coming up here.
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Baina aldi berean, bideoa ikusten ari zarete hemen.
07:03
And that's a video, a high-definition video
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Eta bereizmen handiko bideoa da
07:06
that is transmitted through that light beam.
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argi-izpi horien zehar igorrita.
07:08
You're critical.
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Eszeptikoak zarete.
07:10
You think, "Ha, ha, ha.
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Pentsatzen ari zarete: "Ja, ja, ja.
07:12
This is a smart academic doing a little bit of tricks here."
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Hemen daukagu akademiko azkar bat trikimailuak egiten."
07:15
But let me do this.
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Baina hau egiten badut.
07:19
(Applause)
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(Txaloak)
07:24
Once again.
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Berriro.
07:27
Still don't believe?
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Oraindik ez duzue sinesten?
07:30
It is this light
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Argia da
07:32
that transmits this high-definition video in a split stream.
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bereizmen-handiko bideoa igortzen duena banandutako fluxuan.
07:36
And if you look at the light,
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Eta begiratzen badiozue argiari,
07:39
it is illuminating as you would expect.
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argitzen ari da zuek espero zenuten bezala.
07:41
You don't notice with your human eye.
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Ezin da nabaritu zuen begiekin.
07:43
You don't notice the subtle changes in the amplitude
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Ezin dira nabaritu aldaketa meheak anplitudean
07:46
that we impress onto this light bulb.
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zeintzuk guk inprimatzen ditugun foku gorian.
07:49
It's serving the purpose of illumination,
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Argitzeko baliagarria da,
07:51
but at the same time, we are able to transmit this data.
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baina aldi berean, datuak ere igor ditzakegu.
07:54
And you see,
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Eta ikusten duzuen bezala,
07:56
even light from the ceiling comes down here to the receiver.
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baita sabaiko argia ere hargailura heltzen da.
07:59
It can ignore that constant light,
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Berak argi iraunkor hori baztertzen du,
08:02
because all the receiver's interested in
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hargailuari interesatzen zaiona dira
08:04
are subtle changes.
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aldaketa meheak.
08:09
You also have a critical question now, and
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Noizean behin galdera kritikoak egiten dizkidate,
08:11
you say, "Okay,
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eta diote: "Bale,
08:13
do I have to have the light on all the time
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argia piztuta mantendu behar dut denbora osoan
08:15
to have this working?"
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hau ibiltzeko?"
08:17
And the answer is yes.
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Eta erantzuna da baietz.
08:19
But, you can dim down the light
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Baina, argia moteldu daiteke
08:23
to a level that it appears to be off.
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maila batera non amatuta dagoela dirudi.
08:25
And you are still able to transmit data -- that's possible.
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Eta baldintza horiekin datuak igor daitezke -- posiblea da.
08:28
So I've mentioned to you the four challenges.
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Beraz, lau erronkak aipatu dizkizuet.
08:31
Capacity:
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Ahalmena:
08:33
We have 10,000 times more spectrum,
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10.000 mila aldiz baino espektro handiagoa daukagu.
08:35
10,000 times more LEDs
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10.00 aldiz baino LED gehiago
08:37
installed already in the infrastructure there.
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azpiegituran jadanik jarrita.
08:39
You would agree with me, hopefully,
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Espero dut nirekin ados izango zaretela,
08:41
there's no issue of capacity anymore.
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ez da inondik inora ahalmen arazorik izango.
08:43
Efficiency:
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Eraginkortasuna:
08:45
This is data through illumination --
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Argiztapenaren bidez igorritako datuak dira --
08:47
it's first of all an illumination device.
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lehenengo eta behin argiztapen gailua da.
08:49
And if you do the energy budget,
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Eta energia-kostua kontuan hartzen baduzue,
08:52
the data transmission comes for free --
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datu-igorpena dohainik da --
08:54
highly energy efficient.
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energia-eraginkortasun handia.
08:56
I don't mention the high energy efficiency
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Ez dut LEDen energia-eraginkortasun aipatu nahi
08:58
of these LED light bulbs.
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LED foku goriena, hain zuzen ere.
09:00
If the whole world would deploy them,
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Mundu osoan jarriko balira,
09:02
you would save hundreds of power plants.
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indar planta asko aurreztu genitzake.
09:05
That's aside.
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Hori aparte da.
09:07
And then I've mentioned the availability.
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Eta gero erabilgarritasuna aipatu dut.
09:09
You will agree with me that we have lights in the hospital.
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Ados egongo zarete ospitaletan argiak dauzkagula.
09:12
You need to see what to do.
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Beharrezkoa da zer egin ikusi ahal izatea.
09:14
You have lights in an aircraft.
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Hegazkinetan argiak daude.
09:16
So it's everywhere in a day there is light.
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Leku guztietan argiak daude.
09:18
Look around. Everywhere. Look at your smart phone.
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Zuen inguruan. Leku guztietan.
Begira ezazue zuen smartphonetan.
09:21
It has a flashlight, an LED flashlight.
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Flash bat dago, LED flash bat.
09:23
These are potential sources for high-speed data transmission.
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Hori guztiak abiadura handiko datu-igorpenerako iturria izan daitezke.
09:27
And then there's security.
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Eta gero, segurtasuna.
09:30
You would agree with me
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Nirekin ados egongo zarete
09:32
that light doesn't penetrate through walls.
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argiak ez dituela hormak zeharkatzen.
09:35
So no one, if I have a light here,
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Orduan argi bat badaukat hemen,
09:37
if I have secure data,
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segurtasun handiko datuak baditut,
09:39
no one on the other side of this room through that wall
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gela honetaz bestalde inork ezin du
09:41
would be able to read that data.
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datu horiek irakurri hormaren zehar.
09:43
And there's only data where there is light.
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Eta datuak daude argia piztuta dagoenean soilik.
09:46
So if I don't want that receiver to receive the data,
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Orduan ez badut nahi hargailuak datuak igortzerik,
09:50
then what I could do,
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egin dezakedana da
09:54
turn it away.
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horrela mugitzea.
09:57
So the data goes in that direction, not there anymore.
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Datuak harantz doaz, ez hona.
09:59
Now we can in fact see where the data is going to.
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Orain ikus dezakegu nora doazen datuak.
10:05
So for me,
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Orduan, niretzat
10:08
the applications of it,
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teknologia honen erabilerek
10:11
to me, are beyond imagination at the moment.
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irudimena gainditzen dute oraintxe bertan.
10:15
We have had a century of very nice, smart application developers.
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Mende oso bat izan dugu zentzuzko aplikazioen garatzaileekin.
10:19
And you only have to notice, where we have light,
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Eta orain konturatu behar dugu non dagoen argia,
10:22
there is a potential way to transmit data.
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badago datuak igortzeko ahalmena.
10:25
But I can give you a few examples.
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Adibide batzuk eman diezazkizueket.
10:28
Well you may see the impact already now.
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Agian, ikus dezakezue eragina jadanik.
10:32
This is a remote operated vehicle
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Hau da urrutiko kontrolaz burututako ibilgailua
10:34
beneath the ocean.
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itsaspekoa.
10:36
And they use light to illuminate space down there.
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Eta argia erabiltzen dut hango espazioa argitzeko.
10:39
And this light can be used to transmit wireless data
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Eta argi hori haririk gabeko datuak igortzeko erabil daiteke
10:41
that these things [use] to communicate with each other.
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ibilgailuen elkarrekiko komunikazioak errazteko.
10:44
Intrinsically safe environments
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Berezko ingurugiro seguruak
10:46
like this petrochemical plant --
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instalazio petrokimika hau bezala --
10:48
you can't use RF, it may generate antenna sparks,
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ezin da irrati frekuentziarik erabili,
antenetan txinpartak sor litezkeelako,
10:51
but you can use light -- you see plenty of light there.
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baina argia erabil daiteke -- argi asko ikusten da han.
10:54
In hospitals,
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Ospitaletan,
10:56
for new medical instruments;
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medikuntzaren gailu berrietarako;
10:59
in streets for traffic control.
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kaleetan trafikoa kontrolatzeko.
11:02
Cars have LED-based headlights, LED-based back lights,
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Kotxeek badituzte LED argiak aurrean eta atzean,
11:05
and cars can communicate with each other
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eta kotxeek elkarrekiko komunikazioa izan dezakete
11:07
and prevent accidents
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eta istripuak saihets ditzakete
11:10
in the way that they exchange information.
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haien arteko informazioa trukatzen.
11:13
Traffic lights can communicate to the car and so on.
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Semaforoek kotxeari informazioa eman ahal diote, eta abar.
11:16
And then you have these millions of street lamps
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Eta badago kaleko milioika argi
11:19
deployed around the world.
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mundu osoan zehar jarrita.
11:22
And every street lamp could be a free access point.
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Eta kaleko argi bakoitza doaneko sarbide-puntu bat izan liteke.
11:24
We call it, in fact, a Li-Fi,
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Egiatan Li-Fi deitzen dugu,
11:26
light-fidelity.
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argi-fidelitatea.
11:28
And then we have these aircraft cabins.
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Eta badaude hegazkinen kabina horiek.
11:32
There are hundreds of lights in an aircraft cabin,
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Ehunka argi daude hegazkinaren kabina batean,
11:36
and each of these lights
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eta argi bakoitz hori
11:38
could be a potential transmitter of wireless data.
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haririk gabeko datuen igorle potentziala izan liteke.
11:41
So you could enjoy your most favorite TED video
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Beraz zuen gustukoen TED bideoak gozatu zenitzakete
11:44
on your long flight back home.
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zuen etxerako bidaia luzeetan.
11:46
Online life. So that is a vision, I think, that is possible.
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Online bizitza.
Beraz, posible den ikuspegia dela uste dut.
11:55
So, all we would need to do
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Beraz, guk egin beharko duguna da
11:57
is to fit a small microchip
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mikrotxip txiki bat egokitzea
11:59
to every potential illumination device.
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argiztapen potentzialaren gailu bakoitzera.
12:02
And this would then combine
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Eta honek elkartuko lituzke
12:05
two basic functionalities:
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bi funtsezko eginkizun:
12:07
illumination and wireless data transmission.
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argiztapena eta haririk gabeko datu igorpena.
12:09
And it's this symbiosis that I personally believe
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Eta hau da sinbiosia. Nik uste dut
12:12
could solve the four essential problems
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lau funtsezko arazoak konpon litzakeela
12:14
that face us in wireless communication these days.
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haririk gabeko komunikazioko esparruan.
12:17
And in the future,
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Eta geroan,
12:19
you would not only have 14 billion light bulbs,
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14.000 milioi foku gori izan ez ezik,
12:22
you may have 14 billion Li-Fis
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14.000 milioi Li-Fi ere izango dituzue
12:25
deployed worldwide --
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mundu osoan zehar jarrita --
12:27
for a cleaner, a greener,
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etorkizun garbiago, berdeago
12:29
and even a brighter future.
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baita argiagoa ere eskuratzeko.
12:31
Thank you.
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Mila esker
12:33
(Applause)
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(Txaloak)
Translated by Alvaro Moya
Reviewed by Begoña Laka

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Harald Haas - Communications technology innovator
Harald Haas is the pioneer behind a new technology that can communicate as well as illuminate.

Why you should listen

Imagine using your car headlights to transmit data ... or surfing the web safely on a plane, tethered only by a line of sight. Harald Haas is working on it. He currently holds the Chair of Mobile Communications at the University of Edinburgh, and is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of pureLiFi Ltd as well as the Director of the LiFi Research and Development Center at the University of Edinburgh. His main research interests are in optical wireless communications, hybrid optical wireless and RF communications, spatial modulation, and interference coordination in wireless networks.

Haas has long been studying ways to communicate electronic data signals, designing modulation techniques that pack more data onto existing networks. But his latest work leaps beyond wires and radio waves to transmit data via an LED bulb that glows and darkens faster than the human eye can see. His group published the first proof-of-concept results demonstrating that it is possible to to turn commercially available light emitting diode (LED) light bulbs into broadband wireless transmission systems. 

"It should be so cheap that it's everywhere," he says. "Using the visible light spectrum, which comes for free, you can piggy-back existing wireless services on the back of lighting equipment."

More profile about the speaker
Harald Haas | Speaker | TED.com