'Twisted' fibre optic light breakthrough could make internet 100 times faster
'Twisted' fibre optic light breakthrough could make
internet 100 times faster
Researchers say they have developed tiny readers that can
detect information in light spirals
By Naaman Zhou Wed
24 Oct 2018 05.01 EDT
A new development in fibre optics could make internet
speeds up to 100 times faster – by detecting light that has been twisted into a
spiral.
The research, published in the journal Nature
Communications, can be used to easily upgrade existing networks and
significantly boost efficiency, scientists say.
Fibre optic cables use pulses of light to transmit
information, but currently information can only be stored through the colour of
the light, and whether the wave is horizontal or vertical.
By twisting light into a spiral, engineers effectively
create a third dimension for light to carry information: the level of orbital
angular momentum, or spin. “It’s like DNA, if you look at the double helix
spiral,” said Min Gu from RMIT University. “The more you can use angular
momentum the more information you can carry.”
Researchers in the US had previously created a fibre that
could twist light, but Gu’s team is the first to create a reasonable-size
detector that can read the information it holds.
Previous detectors were “the size of a dining table”, but
the new detector is the width of a human hair. “We could produce the first chip
that could detect this twisting and display it for mobile application,” Gu
said.
The technology could be used to upgrade fibre optic
networks like Australia’s national broadband network – although controversy
still dogs the decision to reduce the scheme’s use of fibre optics in favour of
copper wire.
NBN Co is on schedule to complete the network by 2020.
However, the rollout represents a downgrade on the initial plan – put forward
by Labor – that would have installed fibre optic cables directly into homes
(known as fibre to the premises).
Instead, many households have received fibre to the node
– which is cheaper but produces slower speeds. For fibre to the node, optic
fibre cable only runs as far as a central point in the neighbourhood, and
copper wire connects that node to each home.
Original ADSL connections use an average of 2.5km of
copper wire per connection, fibre to the node uses 500 metres, fibre to the
curb uses 30 metres, and fibre-to-the-premises uses none.
In January, NBN Co admitted that three out of four
customers with fibre-to-the-node would not be able to access the NBN’s top
speed tier.
The CEO, Stephen Rue, revealed plans to increase the
number of premises with fibre to the curb, which uses less copper than
fibre-to-the-node.
Gu said his new research could still work with networks
with large amounts of copper wire.
“We will definitely reduce this hurdle,” he said. “We
will make this transfer more efficient.”
However, because the new cables are required to
effectively twist light, any upgrade could involve replacing existing fibre
networks.
By 2020, NBN Co estimates that 4.6m homes will have fibre
to the node, 1.4m will have fibre to the curb, and 2m will have fibre to the
premises.
A spokesman said the network was “prepared for future
demand”, but advances like those demonstrated at RMIT would need further
acceptance before they were operationally ready.
“New communications technologies are continually being
tested in labs many years in advance of being commercialised. They require
widespread acceptance from equipment manufacturers and network operators before
they are ready for operational deployment.”
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