Google recently announced plans to build an experimental fiber network
that would offer gigabit-per-second broadband speeds to up to 500,000
U.S. homes. The speeds proposed by Google are much faster than those
offered by commercial U.S. Internet services providers, but some
international systems have reached higher speeds. In addition, the
Internet2 offers 10-gigabit connections to university researchers.
There are many factors beyond raw bandwidth that are involved with
delivering very-high-speed connections, says Internet2's Gary Bachula.
The Internet2 has been researching different technologies that could
help find and resolve the performance issues that occur on high-speed
connections. "If we're really going to realize the vision of some of
these high-end applications, it does have to go beyond basic raw
bandwidth," Bachula says. For example, California Institute of
Technology professor Steven Low says that Internet protocols also need
updating. He notes, for example, that the transmission control protocol
does not work well at gigabit-per-second speeds.
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