From Superfast to Ultrafast – Speedier Broadband on the Way

On the heels of BT offering to invest in the infrastructure needed to bring high-speed internet to those Britons who do not yet have it, researchers have announced the possibility of current technology becoming obsolete within a short amount of time. We aren't talking high-speed Internet any more. We're not even talking superfast. Instead, we are now looking at ultrafast speeds measured in gigabytes rather than megabytes.

Ultrafast wi-fi has been on the radar for quite some time now. Until recently though, making it happen has remained somewhat of a mystery. That mystery may have been solved by switching from traditional microwaves to terahertz. Researchers at Brown University School of Engineering in Providence, Rhode Island (USA) have demonstrated they can "transmit separate data streams on terahertz waves at very high speeds and with very low error rates," according a report on the Telegraph website.

"This is the first time anybody has characterised a terahertz multiplex system using actual data," the researcher said in an official statement, "and our results show that our approach could be viable in future terahertz wireless networks."

What It Means to You

If you don't know the difference between a microwave and a terahertz, you are not alone. Here's what it means to you in simple terms: ultrafast internet access that could be upwards of 100 times faster than the best high-speed service now available. We are looking at speeds of 50 GB per second as opposed to 500 MB per second, the highest speed available with state-of-the-art microwave technology.

If science is successful in developing terahertz applications, the implications of the new technology would be incredible. First and foremost, terahertz networks would bring to an end the very real danger of outstripping microwave capacity with current high-speed applications.

Secondly, we would be able to develop platforms capable of much higher data densities. Terahertz waves operate at higher frequencies than microwaves and higher frequencies means more data packed into the same stream.

Thirdly, a successful venture into terahertz technology would mean high definition streaming on-the-go for everything from live television to superfast data crunching for banks, businesses and other large consumers of data. That alone would do wonders for worldwide financial markets.

Proving It Works

Proof-of-concept experiments out of Brown University involved two HD television broadcasts that were encoded on two different terahertz frequencies and then sent out across a wi-fi network together. Researchers obtained error-free results at 10 GB per second. Errors were only slight at 50 GB per second and well within the range of standard error correction systems.

From high-speed to superfast to ultrafast, the speeds at which we can send data through the air will only be going up over the next several years. Imagine a wi-fi connection 100 times faster than you currently use. It is possible through terahertz; at least in principle. Now it is up to scientists to make terahertz technology viable for the mass market. It appears as though they are very much on course.

Source:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/08/10/ultrafast-wi-fi-horizon-scientists-send-data-100-times-current/