<.."We've discovered and patented some concepts about analog technology and copper wiring that will have a huge impact on business and education communications, especially for those considering upgrading their premises wiring to increase bandwidth,"..>
These guys are obviously bright so they are likely onto something pretty profound.
The concern with these kinds of approaches, as I understand it, is that there is no mention of noise. The application cited as a field trial (VGA displays on gas pumps) is not SNR limited, but is equalization limited in that transmission is one-way. In this approach, one can use analog transmission, equalization, filtering and very cheap signal processing to do the job. Analog circuits allow for a lot innovations.
However, when you get multiple services in the last mile, you get crosstalk, and the problem of reliably transmitting information becomes an SNR problem. DSLs are purportedly close to the fundamental limits of SNR, and as I understand, no modulation, filtering or equalization can change that. A system either has to mitigate the noise, or invent a way around Shannon capacity.
It'll be very interesting to see the details from these obviously bright/connected guys.
Steve
(and thanks for the followup article, flick)
PS. Auction starts tomorrow. |
