Wired and Wireless At the Same High Speed

Roland Piquepaille writes "The next generation of optical networks needed to satisfy our appetite for bandwidth is currently under development. And researchers from Georgia Tech have built a new architecture which delivers super-broadband wired and wireless service simultaneously. This hybrid system 'could allow dual wired/wireless transmission up to 100 times faster than current networks.' In fact, this optical-wireless network can carry as many as 32 different channels, each providing 2.5 gigabit-per-second service to your home or your office. And companies such as NEC and BellSouth are already working on such hybrid optical-wireless communications networks."

Comments

WiMAX?

[Landak]

Is this going to be the successor to Intel's somewhat vapourware "WiMAX" project - or is it this in all but name?

Re:catch?

[TubeSteak]

From TFA:

amplified for short-range wireless transmission at frequencies of 40 to 60 gigahertz.

Anyone want to comment on how useful a 40~60 GHz signal is outside of a relatively controlled environment?

weather?

[j1m 5n0w]

This sounds like free space optics, which in bad weather is only reliable over short distances. This could very well be interesting technology, but my enthusiasm will remain subdued until I hear how well it performs through, say, several hundred meters of thick fog.