Mathematical equations can make Internet communication via computer, mobile phone or satellite up to 10 times faster and more secure than today, according to a new study.
The method used by the Danish and US researchers in the study resulted in a four-minute-long mobile video being downloaded five times faster than state of the art technology.
The video also streamed without interruptions. In comparison, the original video got stuck 13 times along the way, researchers said.
“This has the potential to change the entire market. In experiments with our network coding of Internet traffic, equipment manufacturers experienced speeds that are five to ten times faster than usual,” said Frank Fitzek, Professor in the Department of Electronic Systems at Aalborg University and one of the pioneers in the development of network coding.
“And this technology can be used in satellite communication, mobile communication and regular Internet communication from computers,” Fitzek said.
Internet communication formats data into packets. Error control ensures that the signal arrives in its original form, but it often means that it is necessary to send some of the packets several times and this slows down the network.
The researchers instead are solving the problem with a special kind of network coding that utilises clever mathematics to store and send the signal in a different way.
The advantage is that errors along the way do not require that a packet be sent again. Instead, the upstream and downstream data are used to reconstruct what is missing using a mathematical equation.
“With the old systems you would send packet 1, packet 2, packet 3 and so on. We replace that with a mathematical equation. We don’t send packets. We send a mathematical equation,” said Fitzek.
“You can compare it with cars on the road. Now we can do without red lights. We can send cars into the intersection from all directions without their having to stop for each other. This means that traffic flows much faster,” said Fitzek.
