In the project, led by UPC-Barcelona Tech’s Optical Communications Group, a new optical fibre architecture has created that can serve over 1,000 users per ring, 15 to 30 times more than at present. The range of the network is up to 100 kilometres in both urban and rural areas, a substantial improvement on the current 20 kilometre range.
The network can also guarantee speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) to every household in rural areas and 300 megabits per second (Mbps) in urban areas, in comparison to the average speed of 10 Mbps that is currently provided by the current technology. In addition, the network is scalable, which means that it can be expanded without loss of quality, and it is robust, secure and inexpensive to build and maintain.
Faster multimedia applications
The new system, which will become operational in Europe from 2015, is a dense universal optical fibre network, known as a fibre-to-the-home network, has the potential to reach every household in Europe. It regenerates optical signals by means of remote pumping and amplification, enabling users to access multimedia applications without the loss of quality that is often a problem when networks are heavily loaded or in remoter rural areas.
Josep Prat, professor at UPC-Barcelona Tech and coordinator of the study, says the new network will enables users to watch four TV channels on different devices, record four other channels and upload videos on the Internet, simultaneously. Users will also be able to download a DVD in four to five seconds, and set up a high-definition video conference with the guarantee that communications will not be interrupted.
The successful project was conducted by a consortium comprising UPC-Barcelona Tech, Orange-France Telecom Tellabs, Intracom, Instituto de Telecomunicações, Istituto Superiore delle Comunicazioni e delle Tecnologie dell'Informazione and the Research and Educational Laboratory in Information Technology.
http://www.upc.edu/saladepremsa
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