Submarine cables carry 99% of international communications and data traffic, and these cables cover over half a million miles, spread across the seas and oceans of the world, and can transmit data at 640 speeds (gigabytes) per second, which is about 7 million half a million phone calls. Equivalent to running at the same time.

These cables use optical fibers, which are made of glass or plastic fibers to transmit data, and each cable contains a bundle of these fibers capable of carrying messages in the form of light rays.

Fiber-optic cables have a higher bandwidth than metal cables, which allow them to carry more data and deliver faster transmission speeds, and are less susceptible to noise and voice interference, and are thinner and lighter than metal cables, according to a recent report by Datacendime. , They are used as the main source for internet and long distance communication.

Wide area networks

Broadband networks, also known as “WANs”, are the global backbone of today’s Internet, connecting billions of computers around the world and across the oceans based on modern online services.

As is well known, the corona epidemic has put tremendous pressure on network services for billions of people around the world, struggling to provide high bandwidth capable of withstanding machine learning, video calling, healthcare and other growing workloads. Services imposed by the epidemic.

Fiber-optic cables that transmit data using light to connect to WAN networks over hundreds of miles are connected throughout our surroundings. Although they are very fast, they are not always reliable; Thunderstorms, bad weather, accidents and even frequent fish can cause severe damage, leading to loss of internet connectivity in various parts of the world, as recently noted by Docrador.

Use of methods

To avoid these problems, scientists at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently found a way to protect the network while significantly reducing the cost of restarting fiber optics when it fails.

Their organization, called ARROW, converts optical light from damaged fibers to healthy ones, using a specialized online algorithm to replace damaged or damaged fibers based on real-time Internet traffic needs, the university’s site said in a recent report. On to this wonderful novelty.

The report said that “Arrow” was developed and designed in a combination of two different methods: the first is “transport engineering during idle time”, which is a technology that directs traffic to the location of bandwidth resources when fiber is cut or damaged, and the second is “longitudinal restoration”. Waveform “, restores passive bandwidth resources by rearranging light.

To achieve this powerful combination of the two methods, the task force developed a new algorithm that could generate special tickets such as the ‘lottery ticket’ to solve the ‘wavelength rearrangement’ problem in optical fibers. This system also takes into account real-time traffic. Improve maximum network performance.

By using large-scale simulations, the arrow can carry more traffic without the need to deploy new threads, while maintaining network reliability.

There is no room for failure

“We can use this system (arrow) to increase the flexibility of the internet infrastructure in the event of a fiber malfunction,” said Jisen Chong, lead investigator and team leader. Between failures and network management.

Disruptions and Internet crashes were previously unavoidable, where disruption means failure, there is no way to deal with it, but by using this system we can overcome multiple fiber crashes, recover connection and scale failure, and the way we think about managing a dynamic network, Opens up opportunities for reviewing transportation engineering systems and risk assessment systems and emerging applications.

One Network connects billions of computers across continents to form the basis of modern online services (Getty Images)

The network is no longer a stable company

In traditional systems, network engineers have already decided how much capacity should be provided in the physical layer of the network. It may seem impossible to change the network topography without actually changing the cable, but light waves can be diverted using small waves, which can make rapid changes. You do not need re-wiring. The network is not a fixed entity, but an interconnected dynamic system that can change depending on the workload.

To imagine the capabilities of the new system and the revolutionary change it brought, let’s imagine a virtual subway system where some trains may break down from time to time, and the tunnel controller wants to plan how to distribute passengers in alternate routes using “arrow” to account for the continuity of other moving trains, When a train breaks down, the console announces the best alternatives to reduce passenger travel time and avoid congestion.

A revolution in the way we think about the network

“Our long-term goal is to make large-scale computer networks more efficient and to create smart networks that are optimized for data and applications,” says MIT Professor Manya Gopadi, who oversaw the work. The network must violate the traditional rules created many years before this research and still control the network today.

To move the organization from the research and research phase in the real world to real use, the team is currently collaborating with Facebook and we hope to work with other service providers on a large scale in the future.

In turn, Ying Zhang, director of software engineering at Facebook, said: “We are pleased that in the future there will be many practical challenges in bringing arrow research laboratory ideas to the real world.

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