even neater stuff...what our Canadian boys can't do eh?

[Guest guest]

By John Gartner ...posted in Wired some time ago....

 

A new nanotechnology that eliminates network bottlenecks could help

create a web surfers' paradise that is 100 times faster than today's

internet.

 

Fiber-optic networks capable of sending information at 10 Gbps or 40

Gbps are being rolled out around the world and under the oceans to

connect everyone to everything. But getting information to pass from

one high-speed network to another can be slowed by electronic

switching technology.

 

The new technology, described in a paper published Aug. 11 in the

scientific journal Nano Letters, uses buckyballs glued together by a

custom polymer, providing a way to create an optical switch.

 

" Switches and routers do introduce latency, " said Karl Lehenbauer,

chief technology officer of broadband networking company

Superconnect. " If the (data you request) has to pass through 15 to 20

routers, you can see a lag in response, " he said.

 

Part of this slowdown is caused by the conversion and reconversion of

information from its optical (light) form to electronic data used by

switches and routers, according to Ted Sargent, a professor in the

electrical and computer engineering department at the University of

Toronto.

 

" We haven't been able to speed the scale of (electronic) routers to

keep up with the speed of fiber-optic links, " Sargent said. The

solution, according to Sargent, is to upgrade to optical switches

that can forward data at up to 100 times the speed of today's fastest

networks.

 

Sargent worked with researchers at Carleton University to develop a

new polymer material that could be integrated into optical

switches. " You could have an optical switch that directs incoming

information to go north to San Francisco or south to Los Angeles as

needed, " Sargent said. That option would trump electronic

alternatives for performance -- the light (and data) would pass

through the switch in as little as one-trillionth of a second,

according to Sargent.

 

The researchers created a thin film by using a custom-made polymer to

glue together nano-sized buckyballs. The gluing process creates a

material composed of larger electron-rich molecules with sufficient

power to cause light that passes through to control the direction of

other light, providing the switching capability, Sargent said.

 

" This demonstration is a major advance in closing a gap " in how

materials can be used to control light in optical devices, according

to Mark Kuzyk, a physics professor at Washington State University.

Kuzyk said materials studied previously could control only 3 percent

to 5 percent of light.

 

The new material approaches the theoretical limit of what is possible

according to the laws of quantum mechanics, according to Kuzyk. " Once

all-optical devices and systems become prevalent, electronic

bottlenecks will no longer be an issue, " he said.

 

Superconnect's Lehenbauer agrees that " it's fascinating " to have

material for an optical switch, but warns " it could be awhile until

an all-optical network is possible. " Lehenbauer said switches and

routers must identify individual packets and route data

intelligently, tasks that are not possible using a simple optical

switch. " Unless you have an optical computer inside the switch to

make these decisions, you'll still need electronic components. "

 

Lehenbauer said the technology would make sense in other applications

focused on transmitting data. " It could be great as a super-fast

optical repeater that regenerates a signal over long distances, "

Lehenbauer said.

 

" The Holy Grail is to have an all-optical network, " according to Paul

Polishuk, president of network consulting company Information

Gatekeepers. But obtaining it could also be a nearly impossible

quest, Polishuk said.

 

Polishuk said substantial research dollars were invested in optical

switches in the last few years, but several companies abandoned their

efforts because they could not develop devices durable enough to

survive in a network environment.

 

Polishuk also questioned the need for higher-speed networks. " Who's

going to buy it when 40-Gb networks aren't getting off the ground? "

he asked.

 

Optical-networking company Infinera is taking another approach to

boosting internet performance. The company has developed a photonic

integrated circuit, a hybrid of optical and electronic technologies,

according to Serge Melle, vice president of network architecture.

 

Melle said the technology combines discrete functions into a single

chip, and can transmit data at speeds of up to 100 Gbps.

 

" People are doing in optics today what was done with semiconductors

40 years ago, " Melle said.