The days of slow downloads could be over by the end of the decade according to researchers from the University of Southampton and the University of Essex. The scientists are working on a six-year project that, they claimed, that could make broadband internet 100 times faster.
The ‘Photonics HyperHighway’ project will bring together researchers from the university with industry partners, including BBC Research and Development and will look at the way fibre optics are used, and develop new materials and devices to increase internet bandwidth.
Announcing the investment during a visit to officially open the University of Southampton’s award-winning Mountbatten Building, where much of the research will be conducted, Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said:
“The internet is fundamental to our lives and we use it for a huge range of activities – from doing the weekly food shop to catching up with friends and family. The number of broadband subscribers has grown vastly in the past ten years, and we need to ensure the web infrastructure can continue to meet this demand.
Professor David Payne, of the University of Southampton, who is leading the Photonics HyperHighway project, said:
“Now is the time to look ahead to develop the infrastructure of the future. Our ambition is nothing less than to rebuild the internet hardware to suit it to the needs of the 21st-century.
“Traffic on the global communications infrastructure continues to increase 80 per cent year-on-year. This is driven by rapidly expanding and increasingly demanding applications, such as internet television services and new concepts like cloud computing. What this project proposes is a radical transformation of the physical infrastructure that underpins these networks.”
Subscribers 0
Fans 0
Followers 0
Followers