Scientists from the University of Sydney say they have found a way to make internet speeds up to 100 times faster than current speeds.
The scientists, from the Centre for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS) at the university, found that a small 'scratch' in optical fibres could vastly increase bandwidth.
“We are talking about networks that are potentially up to 100 times faster without costing the consumer any more,” says Federation Fellow Prof Ben Eggleton, director of CUDOS, based within the School of Physics at the University of Sydney.
According to Eggleton, optical fibres have a greater capacity than is currently being used.
“This circuit uses the ‘scratch’ as a guide or a switching path for information — kind of like when trains are switched from one track to another — except this switch takes only one picosecond to change tracks,” he said.
The team’s research indicates this physical difference would translate into a bandwidth of a terabit per second, meeting the increasing bandwidth demands of consumers.
“Currently, we use electronics for our switching and that has been okay but as we move towards a more tech-savvy future there is a demand for instant web gratification. Photonic technology delivers what’s needed and, more importantly, what’s wanted.”
