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Math Can Make the Internet 5-10 Times Faster


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Credit: Mashable

Researchers at Aalborg University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the California Institute of Technology say they have developed software that can make Internet communications via computer, mobile phone, or satellite significantly faster and more secure. The researchers used their new method to download a four-minute video five times faster than with existing state-of-the-art technology.

"In experiments with our network coding of Internet traffic, equipment manufacturers experienced speeds that are five to 10 times faster than usual," says Aalborg University professor Frank Fitzek. "And this technology can be used in satellite communication, mobile communication, and regular Internet communication from computers."

The new method involves network coding that uses specialized mathematics to store and send the signal in a new way that is different from traditional packets. The advantage is that errors along the way do not require a packet to be resent. With the new method, the upstream and downstream data is used to reconstruct what is missing using a mathematical equation.

From Aalborg University
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Abstracts Copyright © 2014 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA


 

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