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Internet speed breakthrough announced in Sydney


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It has taken four years to develop but now, due to a small scratch on a piece of glass, University of Sydney scientists say our Internet is set to become 60 times faster than current networks.

The scratch will mean almost instantaneous, error free and unlimited access to the Internet anywhere in the world,CUDOS (Centre for Ultra-high bandwith Devices for Optical Systems) announced today at the Opto-Electronics and Communications Conference (OECC).

"This is a critical building block and a fundamental advance on what is already out there. We are talking about networks that are potentially up to 100 times faster without costing the consumer any more," says Federation Fellow Professor Ben Eggleton, Director of CUDOS, based within the School of Physics at the University of Sydney.

Eggleton, whose team beat their deadline by a year, says that up until now information has been moving at a slow rate but optical fibres have a huge capacity to deliver more. "The scratched glass we've developed is actually a Photonic Integrated Circuit," he says.

"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. This means that in one second the switch is turning on and off about one million million times. We are talking about photonic technology that has terabit per second capacity."

This initial demonstration proves it is possible to achieve speeds 60 times faster than current Australian Networks. With further development, the process is likely to produce even faster results.

"Currently we use electronics for our switching and that has been OK but as we move toward 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."

Based on a highly fruitful scientific collaboration between CUDOS teams at the University of Sydney and the Australian National University, with the Technical University of Denmark and supported with Australian Research Council (ARC) funding, CUDOS' research was presented in a paper delivered at the OECC on 9 July.
Paul_Flynn

36 responses // Internet speed breakthrough announced in Sydney

  • The porn industry must be ecstatic.
    GavinTheMother
    1 response to this
  • That great. To bad internet 2 is coming out in 2012. All that speed will mean jack when the ISP’s throttle your bandwidth to 40 gigs a month.
    Ricky84
    5 responses to this
  • 60 times faster? Thats freakin ridiculous. But yes, what a great breakthrough!
    BigAl109
  • Oh man, can't wait to ditch the clunky dsl and get my hands on this stuff. And ya Ricky, I agree, boo telecom controlled bandwith.
    M_Pavlov
  • We are approaching the singularity that much quicker!
    claybird121
  • http://ftthnews.titan.net.au/2008/03/telstra-has-delay-...
    This is actually a tragic story because literally no one in Sydney will ever see these gains. The copper that Telstra originally rolled out for telephone service was of such poor quality that for years they capped DSL bandwidth at 1500 kbit/s. Next, they did such a poor job rolling out Fiber To The Home (FTTH) that they eventually gave up on the ATM technology they had originally slated to use. Now the replacement technology (GPON) is nowhere in sight (see article). The internet may get 60x faster, but it sure won't be on a Telstra network when it does.
    GreenScreenCinema
    1 response to this
  • Kudos to CUDOS!
    aburninggiraffe
  • Everyone should be allowed super duper fast internets, it makes looking at Current.com much more fun!
    mattbrawn
  • Now no one has to wait eons for their youtube videos to load!
    McAfee
    1 response to this
  • watch this comment being used here, here and here
    Only 60 times faster? Get back in there boys I'm sure that if you scratch that glass again we can get it up to 120 times faster!
    DraculaJones
    1 response to this
  • Wow! I can't wait till this new super high speed network is available in my neighborhood. and I thought the Roadrunner turbo was fast.
    Brockie
  • from the 'series of tubes' to a potential terabyte per second... boy the progress we are making.
    bishopobispo
  • watch this comment being used here
    Now I can get to my Nude Midget Wrestling site a whole lot faster. Technology is a wonderful thing.
    PaperTigerTrax
  • Faster is better.

    Go Speed Racer, GO!
    ....cartoon reference if you're wondering.
    J_Jammer
    1 response to this
  • Sweet! We all need to spend more time on the internet!
    iOw
    • iOw
    • 3 months ago
  • Faster is indeed better. I am curious what the implementation path for this technology would be and if companies like Cisco (who has majority market share) are involved yet or at all. That would signal to be what the timeframe would be. I’d like to see this, and internet2, come to bear. Then the bottleneck might shift back to the server/desktop environment.

    I think this technology ( and internet2) are a little less “instant” then people think. Getting these things in place, companies producing and selling the technology, and people using it always seems to be a much longer process then actually developing it.
    Bahlkris
  • They can't even roll out fiber optics with any kind of speed, it will be 20 years before they even start to do anything with this technology in the US
    osiris326
  • I'm sure that the US Military Machine will have the first winning bid on this technology.
    thewarnerla
  • Thanks Paul, for a glimpse into the future.
    MoonLoon
  • some of you chumps need to restrict your own access to goofy internet conspiracy theories.

    But seriously i heard that that by 2010 you will only be able to access Christian websites and FOXNews.com.
    chancebrambles
  • Wow! Now I'll be able to piss away time surfing the internet 60 times faster!
    damnneargenius
  • lol.... porn unlimited.... and um...... the internet 2 thing as described by ayahuasca2012 if does happen.... ill just stop using their service... and move to canada
    kewal91
    2 responses to this
  • If my cable internet bill is an indication of what the internet speed to cost ratio is, this will cost a bajillion dollars a month.
    CarlosIsDown
  • i'll probably need faster eyes...surgically or learn to fast read
    flipriza

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