CSIRO unveils fastest wireless link

The

today announced that it has achieved over six gigabits per second over a point to point wireless connection with the highest efficiency (2.4bits/s/Hz) ever achieved for such a system.

As an indication of speed, CSIRO claimed the entire works of Shakespeare could be transmitted over this link in under seven thousandths of a second or a full DVD movie in just over three quarters of a second.

At a demonstration scheduled for tomorrow, the team will transmit 16 simultaneous streams of DVD quality video over a 250 metre link with no loss of quality or delays, using just one quarter of the capacity of the link.

Dr Jay Guo, Director of the Wireless Technologies Laboratory at CSIRO said that this breakthrough is just a first stage towards direct connections of up to 12 gigabits per second.

‘The system is suitable for situations where a high speed link is needed but it is too expensive or logistically difficult to lay fibre, such as in congested urban environments, and across valleys and rivers,’ Dr Guo said.

‘The system is also ideal for creating networks to meet short term needs such as emergencies and large events.’

The system operates at 85GHz in the millimetre-wave part of the electromagnetic spectrum (above 55 GHz) which offers the potential for these enormous speeds and is not yet congested by other uses.