Your broadband connection may soon become ten times faster

In what could boost the capacity of strained broadband networks and improve download time worldwide, scientists have developed a new optical fibre technology to transmit tenfold more data over existing cables.

An international team, led by Monash University, has pioneered the innovation which is known as optical Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing, or oOFDM.

The technology applies Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line principles -- already used to expand the capacity of data transfer over traditional copper and wireless broadband -- to optical fibre cables, potentially increasing their data capacity tenfold.

Team leader Arthur Lowery said there was an exponential growth in data-intensive Internet applications.

"More and more people are accessing broadband Internet and using it for data-heavy activities, such as video. This poses a major challenge to the existing optical fibre infrastructure unless the capacity or bandwidth on existing fibres can be augmented.

"The appeal of oOFDM is that it offers an inexpensive means of dramatically increasing long-haul capacity from the current transmission rate of 10 Gigabits per second to more than 100 Gigabits per second, over new and existing optical fibre," he said.

According to the scientists, the innovation would allow the world's telecommunications carriers to meet a growing consumer demand for faster download speeds without major cost.

"Standard data transmission is equivalent to transmitting a series of single notes, but oOFDM is more like transmitting the notes grouped together in a chord. Since more data is packed into the chord, more information can be sent that is less prone to technical issues, as each signal travels down the optical fibre," Prof Lowery said.