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Scientists Test World's Fastest Wireless Network
MojoKid writes "Scientists in Pisa, Italy claim to have set
a new world record for the fastest wireless data transmission. They report
that they were able to achieve throughput speeds above 1.2 Terabits per second, which they say beats the previous wireless data transmission speed record of 160 Gigabits per second, achieved by Korean scientists. The technology that the Pisa scientists utilized actually shares a significant similarity with fiber optics. Unlike Wi-Fi or microwave communications, which use radio-based transmissions, the Pisa scientists used a technology called free-space optical communications. In free space optics, an energy beam is collimated and transmitted through space rather than being guided through an optical cable."
While technically achieved without wires, the thing with WiFi is that you can used the omnidirectional nature of the transmission (along with refraction and diffraction of the signal) to access the signal anywhere within its range, often without line of sight. Naturally, free space optics requires an uninterrupted line of sight and significant alignment procedures. Now I'm not saying line of sight networking is useless (it was used to great effect after 9/11 and is great for places you need a temp. network but can't string a wire) but comparing it to radio WiFi is a bit apples/oranges.
I always knew those scientists in Pisa leaned toward having faster networks. They've always towered over the rest of the world, technologically.
there should be a difference between point-2-point speed record, and point-2-multipoint, which concerns most of us wifi-users. P2P connections are used mainly in business, and they can have backup links should, let's say' fog happen that will disperse all the transmission (reduced wisibility).
Plain old sigh.
...the only way you'll get it is to move up in the electromagnetic spectrum. It had to be a laser based communications system.
The alternative is to smear this crap all over the electromagnetic spectrum. And at this data rate, if you really expect throughput, you can't rely on spread spectrum to save you.
Nearly fifty percent of all graduates come from the bottom half of the class!
I was about to say the same thing about wireless being omnidirectional and "free space" optics being single point source and directional.
It occurs to me however that this is not new technology. Back in Chicago in the mid 90s, I did some interesting work at a very well funded mom-and-pop ISP that was playing with some "line of sight" (RF and optical) T-1 equivalents. The "free space optic" portion of the circuit died completely every time it rained, so it wasn't too terribly useful for anything outdoors, like shooting a high speed line across town by aiming a couple of transceivers out some open windows.
Another way to look at that is 6/10ths of a Comcast Monthly Cap per second.
There are two kinds of people: 1) those who start arrays with one and 1) those who start them with zero.
They are all around us... laptops, PDA's, etc. Even your TV remote! Much lower bitrates, obviously. Essentially, these guys used a laser beam instead of a simple LED.
Kicking it up to just above a Terabit per second is an impressive feat of technology. Unfortrunately, the range and throughput of such a system would be limited by various environmental factors- dust, smoke, and water vapor. Not to mention the power of the sun, outdoors. You also have numerous other sources of light pollution getting in the way. Using it within existing tunnels might be one way of avoiding stringing fiber through them... but it wouldn't take much to disrupt the beam. A spider's web in just the wrong place, for example, where the spider or one of its victims blocks the beam.
Still, it's pretty cool to get the data that fast through the air.
Willie...
they were able to achieve throughput speeds above 1.2 Terabits per second
Unfortunately, what they didn't tell you was that all those bits were zeroes.