UK Scientists Claim 2000 Times Faster Fiber Optic Speed Possible

A team of scientists working out of Bangor University in Wales has developed a commercially affordable method of using Optical Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OOFDM) over fibre optic lines, which could deliver broadband ISP speeds that are 2,000 times faster than current services. The project is called OCEAN and they have already managed to pump 20 gigabits of data every second, which is phenomenally fast considering that the fastest speed recorded in Britain is 33.4 megabits per second.

The new method works by converting the raw digital data, firstly into physical electrical waves and then into an optical signal capable of being pumped down a cable by a laser. The breakthrough is that the team have managed to design the electronic kit that can both code and decode these optical signals on the fly.

"The trouble is, that can all cost a lot of money. So the focus for the Ocean Project is really to find out if we can do it in a cost-effective way, and is it a viable way of doing it in a commercial setting?" said Dr Roger Giddings, one of the team running the Ocean Project in north Wales.

According to Bangor University, OCEAN is a partnership project (funded by the European Union (3m Euros+)) that includes several major global telecoms firms; Fujitsu Semiconductors Europe, Finisar Israel, Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute and VPIsystems GmbH.

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