DSL Broadband Could Hit 100MB/sec Over Existing Phone Lines
DSL Broadband Could Hit 100MB/sec Over Existing Phone Lines
October 24, 2007: While most of the population has become very adept at ignoring email spam which promises to make things go faster, in the case of DSL connections speeding up to 100MB/sec over Copper phone lines it may be in the realms of possibility.
Dr John Papandriopoulos, a research fellow at the University of Melbourne has made a major breakthrough in the realm of connection interference which could see broadband being accelerated to previously unheard of speeds.
“People have been trying to push up the speeds of broadband to as fast as possible by pushing the actual bandwidth limits. The underlying problem is really one of interference, in effect your neighbor is interfering with your speed” he said.
Dr John explains that the interference is similar to how phone calls used to ‘echo’ and occasionally allow you to hear the faint sound of someone else’s conversation on the line, which used to be referred to back in the Telecom days as being a ‘crossed line’. Although this level of interference has been cleaned up for years, in the realm of ADSL and ADSL2+ connections, the interference is strong enough to interfere with broadband speeds.
“Typical broadband in Australia is around 1.5MB/sec for ADSL1 and anywhere up to 24MB/sec for ADSL2+ connections. We're looking at increasing those rates up to about 100mbs per second by managing the interference between the lines” he said.
What should be pointed out here is that the talk of DSL hitting 100MB/sec speeds refers to using VDSL technology instead of ADSL. Apart from having a different letter at the start of the acronym, VDSL is a much faster technology then the ADSL and ADSL2+ connection that are common throughout Australia. What Dr John’s breakthrough does is reduce interference on copper telephone lines to the extent that you can run VDSL lines on them.
“What we're doing with newer versions of DSL such as VDSL and VDSL2 is employing technology to widen the broadband further, the trouble with doing that is you really need to manage the interference, which is what the research has focused on” Papandriopoulos said.
VDSL is actually already on offer in Australia in a very limited area by TransACT, who run it over their fibre network in the ACT. If the technology becomes widely available then VDSL may become available on copper phone lines. Dr John explains that there are other improvements that the technology can offer, such as improving the speed of your ADSL or ADSL2+ connection so that it can achieve its full potential.
Papandriopoulos actually plans to part ways with the University of Melbourne and is “Currently trying to find a licensee for the intellectual property and I’ve also recently taken a position with a startup in the US, this startup focuses on this area and is run by Stanford Professor who is known as the father of ADSL” he continued, “The professor is John Cioffi who is pushing this whole notion of dynamic spectrum management, which is another way of saying dynamically managing interference.”
According to Papandriopoulos the technology could be installed directly into existing modems as a software upgrade or be shipped in new modems depending on the ability of the particular modem type. In addition to this there would be a further installation required at the DSLAM in your telephone exchange which would then start cutting down the interference. Don’t expect to see the offering on your local PC store shelves anytime soon though, as Papandriopoulos hopes it will be available within 3-4 years.