{"id":7594,"date":"2017-09-19T05:16:41","date_gmt":"2017-09-19T05:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/designbuybuild.co.uk\/?p=7594"},"modified":"2017-09-19T05:16:41","modified_gmt":"2017-09-19T05:16:41","slug":"ist-launches-first-visual-light-communication-vlc-led-drivers-indoor-positioning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/designbuybuild.co.uk\/ist-launches-first-visual-light-communication-vlc-led-drivers-indoor-positioning\/","title":{"rendered":"IST Launches first Visual Light Communication (VLC) LED Drivers for Indoor Positioning"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 2017 witnessed the launch of the one of the world\u2019s most advanced LED drivers: the iDrive\u00ae Force 12 Hybrid+, which incorporates Visual Light Communication (VLC) capabilities to enable luminaire manufacturers and system integrators to create their own high precision, indoor location- based marketing solutions.<\/p>\n

The new Hybrid+ LED output stage has taken four production iterations and nearly a decade to perfect, in order to provide unprecedented levels of smooth, flicker-free dimming and seamless integration of optical VLC beacon technology.<\/p>\n

The iDrive\u00ae Force 12 Hybrid+ builds on IST\u2019s worldwide patent portfolio and extensive know-how to deliver the first open platform and cost-effective indoor positioning VLC drivers to enable the lighting industry to capture a large section of the burgeoning positioning market.<\/p>\n

More people than ever before are walking around with location service-enabled devices in their pockets, due to the global proliferation of smartphones, which is predicted to hit over 2.5 billion users worldwide in 2019. This opens the door for location-targeted mobile adverts, which eMarketeer estimates will generate revenues of over $15bn by 2018.<\/p>\n

VLC-based LED luminaires can be deployed for many different applications and significantly increase the value proposition of lighting within buildings. However, indoor location VLC-based marketing solutions are proving increasingly attractive in the retail sector, due to the positional accuracy achieved by VLC compared to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon technology (please see Fig.1 below).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Figure 1: Comparison of accuracy and range of positioning technologies<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Using VLC (also known as broadcast Li-Fi) technology combined with Wi-Fi and mobile sensor based positioning mitigates the need for capital expenditure and installation costs of BLE beacon based positioning systems, whilst increasing positional resolution to less than 0.5m.<\/p>\n

Several leading lighting companies have already launched proprietary VLC-based positioning systems. However, the technology has proved to be extremely expensive and not readily available in the wider market, thus limiting competition and choice for end-users.<\/p>\n

As a leading provider of iDrive\u00ae LED driver technology, IST decided to focus its technical resources and know-how to create an open platform VLC solution that enables literally anyone to create their own lighting-enabled location and positioning solutions, without the need to invest millions of dollars developing their own LED driver platform.<\/p>\n

The iDrive\u00ae Force 12 Hybrid+ will enable the creation of feature-rich retail positioning systems to achieve:<\/p>\n