This looks good. I'm going to have to get me one of these ...
Google, Lighting Science Working on Open Source Home Wireless Protocol
Google unveiled this bit of energy news out of its developer conference in San Francisco on Tuesday: before the end of the year, LED company Lighting Science Group will start selling the first Android-connected LED bulb. It’s essentially an energy efficient bulb connected to a radio, which can be controlled and monitored via Google’s mobile operating system. But one of the more unusual things about the project is that Google and Lighting Science Group say they are working on a wireless protocol that will be used to connect the bulb to the Android operating platform, as well as other devices in the home like appliances and thermostats.
Holland said the wireless mesh networking protocol will run between the 800 – 915 MHz frequency bands, but wouldn’t give the name of the protocol or other companies working on it besides Google and Lighting Science Group (though, he said there are others). Holland said the wireless protocol would have a smaller footprint in terms of requiring less RAM and less Flash storage to implement, and would have a better latency than current home wireless protocols (so there’s no lag time between pressing a button to turn a light on and the bulb responding).
Holland said that Lighting Science Group wanted to work with Google because it is the champion of open source, and that Google will be making the wireless protocol open source. The wireless protocol could help proliferate LED and smart lighting technology across the market, said Holland, and Lighting Science Group plans to launch a whole suite of lighting products around the wireless tech at the lighting expo Lightfair next week. We know that our competitors will ultimately be working on this technology, but from a technology perspective this will open up the market.
The LED bulb itself will be available before Christmas of this year, and will be targeted at consumers. Holland said that in terms of cost the bulb will be on par with the cost of other LED bulbs.
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