Researchers develop innovative data transmission method

A process known as multiplexing is used in information technology circles in order for more signals to be transmitted than the number of available transmission channels. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now developed a new multiplex process in which data is coded in correlated noises between spatially separated light waves. As a press release explains, a patent has already been submitted for this novel coding technique by its inventors: the PhD student Shawn Divitt and Lukas Novotny, a professor at ETH Zurich.

The method developed by ETH Zurich researchers should serve to further increase the transmission capacities of fiber optic cables. It may well also represent a cheaper alternative to existing technologies, as the new method does not require a coherent laser light and can be used with conventional light sources.

Moreover, correlation coding could also contribute to data safety: “Since the oscillations of light waves cannot be recorded in ‘real time’ due to their high frequency, a possible eavesdropper would have to divert a considerable part of the optical power in order to obtain an interference pattern and hence intercept the information”, according to ETH Zurich. That, in turn, would be noticed immediately, which would expose the eavesdropper. Novotny’s intention is to now enlist the services of another PhD student in order to investigate the potential applications for correlation coding.