New Fiber Optic Signal Processing Technique Doubles Communication Distance

hypnosec writes: Researchers at University College London (UCL) have demonstrated a new technique for fiber optic signal processing that doubles the distance at which data travels error-free through transatlantic sub-marine cables. The UCL research, published in Scientific Reports, has the potential to reduce the costs of long-distance optical fiber communications as signals wouldn't need to be electronically boosted during their journey, which is important when the cables are buried underground or at the bottom of the ocean. The study reports a new way of improving the transmission distance, by undoing the interactions that occur between different optical channels as they travel side-by-side over an optical cable. By eliminating the interactions between the optical channels, researchers increase distance signals can be transmitted error-free from 3190km to 5890km, which is the largest increase ever reported for this system architecture.

Comments

Re:how do they do it today?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nothing bizarre here. Sharks (and other cartilaginous fish) have electroreceptors to hunt and track their prey, so anything generating an electromagnetic field will atract sharks to check if it's a viable food source.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampullae_of_Lorenzini