Researchers at Oxford University are developing a wireless networking technology that uses light to beam information through the air at more than 100 gigabits per second, according to a report in The New Zealand Herald.

The technology eventually could provide a faster alternative to WiFi, which currently tops out at about 7 gigabits per second.

Light already is used to transmit data across fiber optic networks at high speed. However, transmitting information by beaming light through the air is more difficult, because there is no "light tunnel" to guide the signal.

The researchers, led by photonics engineer Dominic O'Brien, have developed a system that uses a base station installed on the ceiling of a room to send and receive light signals from a computer.

The transmitter and receiver are both fitted with holographic beam-steering technology, which uses an array of liquid crystals to create a "programmable diffraction grating" that reflects the light in the desired direction.

The technology works at distances of up to 3 meters but the system requires a direct line of sight and for now, the computer must be in a fixed position.

The next step, says O'Brien, will be to develop a tracking system so that a user can place a laptop at a random spot on a table and have the system find it and create a link.

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