New fibre optic technology could boost internet capacity through the alteration of light beam movements, scientists have discovered.
Siddharth Ramachandran, professor in engineering at Boston University in the United States, found new internet technology operating with round, rather than vertical laser beams.
Internet bandwidth capacity can be increased through data sent in a tornado-shaped twisting movement, rather than a straight line, scientists confirmed.
The solution will solve the challenge operators face as internet data traffic soars due to increased smartphone and other internet-enabled device activity.
Optical vortices, doughnut-shaped laser beams known as orbital angular momentum (OAM), were previously thought too unreliable to use, the US journal Science describes in the report.
“Our discovery, of design classes in which they are stable, has profound implications for a variety of scientific and technological field,” Ramachandran said as reported by ABC Science.
Alan Willner, optical communication system expert at the University of Southern California, described the new solution as “very unique and valuable innovation”.
Ramachandran and Willner, also the co-author of the findings, will combine the new solution with the traditional method to increase internet capacity.
The current method encompasses the multiplication of colours, otherwise known as wavelengths of data-carrying laser signals, are sent down an optical fibre via which signals are processed based on colour.
The experiment was proved successful through mastering the technique with a huge amount of data through a 1km fibre at a speed of 1.6 terabits per second.
The speed is similar to the transmission of eight Blu-Ray DVDs per second.
Ben Eggleton, director of the Centre for Ultrahigh Bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS) at the University of Sydney, said the implementation of the new system will require new fibre system adjustments and redesign of architecture.
Eggleton said: “This [new technique] is like another degree of freedom that gives you more bandwidth in that single mode fibre.”
Although he is of opinion the National Broadband Network will not be able to adapt it at present, a “next generation” roll-out is anticipated.
