Network Communications News (NCN) October 2017 | Page 6

INDUSTRY NEWS No dark side to using LED lights to supplement Wi-Fi A 12-month project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has found that LEDs could help meet demands for wireless communications Leader of research study, without affecting Dr Wasiu Popoola quality of light or the existing environmental benefits they deliver. A University of Edinburgh team, lead by Dr Wasiu Popoola, has found that transmitting digital data via LEDs at the same time as using them to generate light does not make the light dimmer or even change its colour. These popular misconceptions, explained Dr Wasiu Popoola, have held back the more widespread adoption of Light Fidelity, or Li-Fi, which uses household LEDs to enable data transfer. The research findings should help to eliminate key hurdles to using LEDs to help satisfy the increasing global thirst for wireless communications. Preserving the quality of lighting is, in particular, a vital consideration as it has the potential to have a major effect on the physical and mental wellbe ing of people in both their homes and workplaces. LEDs have secured a huge increase in their share of the worldwide lighting market, as well as being used extensively in TV and other displays. Research explored two different data transmission techniques, the first ‘on- of keying’, whereby the LED works like Morse code, switching on and off rapidly and imperceptibly to human eyes; and ‘continuous signalling’, where imperceptible changes in light intensity are used to achieve the same goals. With an increasing number of personal and household gadgets connecting to IoT, adding to the torrent of data needing transmission and the demand for wireless communications, Dr Popoola detailed, “Our ever more connected world will need more bandwidth than the overcrowded Radio Frequency part of the spectrum can provide. Plugging a key knowledge gap, our results are very encouraging for the future of light-based communications that could help realise the full economic and social potential of a wireless future. It’s vital that LED manufacturers know what impact the incorporation of data transmission capabilities would have on their products. Our research shows that there’s no dark side to using LED lights to supplement Wi-Fi.” More information: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council epsrc.ac.uk 6 | October 2017 Savvius sets out tempting introductory incentives Savvius says its doubling down on adoption of new high-performance network monitoring appliances with introductory incentives. The deals concern the company’s Omnipliance Ultra and Spotlight Appliance solutions. Specialist in actionable network visibility, the company has announced a limited-time promotion giving customers trade-in credits and discounts of up to 30% off MSRP on the new Savvius Omnipliance Ultra and Savvius Spotlight appliances. Valid through to December 15, 2017, this offer applies to existing Savvius customers as well as enterprises using select, outdated network monitoring or packet capture appliances from competing vendors. “Savvius PartnerONE channel partners can now provide customers with solutions that offer exceptional network visibility using the new Savvius Omnipliance Ultra and Savvius Spotlight appliances,” says Patrick Johnston, vice president of worldwide sales at Savvius. “With this introductory incentive program, our Savvius PartnerONE solution providers are able to deliver unprecedented value to customers who have been looking to upgrade a legacy Savvius solution, or have been overburdened with the support and maintenance fees of competitive solutions offering less functionality.” Savvius Omnipliance Ultra is designed to allow IT professionals to quickly anticipate, identify, locate and resolve network per formance problems. Every Omnipliance Ultra appliance includes Savvius Spotlight technology, which goes beyond traditional dashboards by analysing every network transaction or conversation in real time to provide instant visibility into network trouble spots. Using the platform, it’s easy to identify the four golden networking signals of latency, traffic utilisation, errors and saturation, allowing IT professionals to focus on proactively resolving the most pressing issues before their customers complain or better still even notice there is an issue. The Savvius Spotlight appliance brings the advantages of Spotlight technology to a standalone appliance that supports 20Gbps of network traffic. The Spotlight appliance can operate as a standalone device or tightly integrate with previous- and latest-generation Savvius Omnipliances. O w n e r s of l ate s t - ge n e rat i o n O m n i p l i a n c e s c a n u p g ra d e to O m n i p l i a n c e U l t ra at a n i nt ro d u cto r y p r i c e . A l l n ew a n d ex i s t i n g S av v i u s c u s to m e r s w h o w i s h to p u rc h a s e a n a p p l i a n c e w i t h S p ot l i g ht te c h n o l o g y c a n ta ke a d va nta ge of t h e l i m i te d - t i m e i nt ro d u cto r y p r i c i n g o n S av v i u s O m n i p l i a n c e U l t ra a n d S av v i u s S p ot l i g ht a p p l i a n c e s . I n a d d i t i o n , t h o s e p u rc h a s i n g a n O m n i p l i a n c e U l t ra c a n c h o o s e to t ra d e i n a n ex i s t i n g S av v i u s O m n i p l i a n c e o r co m p et i n g m o n i to r i n g o r p a c ket c a pt u re d ev i c e fo r a n eve n g re ate r d i s co u nt . Full details about the global program including a demo are available direct from the company. More information: Savvius 0203 790 7586, savvius.com New offers are on the table from Savvius