It’s reported that new research from Boston University's College of Engineering, funded by a National Science Foundation grant, indicates that LEDs may be not only the integral lighting component of the future, but may also form the backbone of future wireless networks. The US government is funding research into using next-generation led high bay light as data network access points. Room or street lamps would link with devices using visible light, carrying data beyond over existing power lines. The primary goal of the research is to develop LEDs that do exactly that -- transmit information wirelessly via controlled blinking. The initiative is known as the Smart Lighting Engineering Research Centre, and will be carried forward at Boston University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of New Mexico. The US National Science Foundation is providing $18.5m in funding.Little and his colleagues envisage affordable devices which would replace existing lamps and lig...