New development in digital signal processing improves bandwidth 10-fold

Researchers at Bangor University’s Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Centre have found a cost-effective way to improve the performance of networks which supply mobile services and broadband to our homes and businesses, says the university in a press release.

As well as improved performance, the new technique is also kinder on the planet. Because of the technique’s lack of complexity, less energy is needed to transmit a given amount of data, so there is less of an environmental cost. In the process, they have set a new world record for using DSP to transform complicated, non-linear, low-speed optical transmission systems into simple, linear, high-speed ones.

Polimi introduces optical chip that transmits broadband data

Configuration takes one millionth of a second and has a frequency range of more than 10,000 GHz. Polimi (Politecnico di Milano) presented the results of its optical chip this week.

Manipulate signal processing

Results from the latest research carried out at the DSP Centre in Bangor, North Wales, demonstrate that a 10-fold increase in bandwidth of commercially installed access networks is technically feasible over an extended distance of 100 kilometres by manipulating the way the data is processed in the receiver using a technique based on digital signal processing.

Professor Jianming Tang, Director of the DSP Centre: “Using advanced digital signal processing, we are manipulating the way in which signals are processed in the receiver to compensate for the effects that usually limit bandwidth and transmission distance. This approach could be used to upgrade existing networks without requiring considerable changes to be made to these networks. 

Cheap and low-power consumption

The approach also allows cheap and low-power consumption solutions to be deployed in new networks, capable of satisfying unprecedented technical requirements associated with 5G and beyond.  “We are now looking at how this approach could be further integrated with the DSP Centre’s other cutting-edge techniques to provide additional network security by detecting unauthorised changes to the network, and unauthorised access to the data, which is of paramount importance these days.” 

The DSP Centre at Bangor University has secured £3.9million in project funding from European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government. In addition to this funding, the centre has also recently secured £3million from the North Wales Growth Deal as one of the projects within the Digital Programme.