New fibre optic tech to boost internet bandwidth

WASHINGTON: In a breakthrough, scientists including one of Indian origin have devised a new fibre optic technology that promises to increase bandwidth dramatically, easing internet congestion and video streaming. 

The technology centers on donut-shaped laser light beams called optical vortices, in which the light twistsa tornado as it moves along the beam path, rather than in a straight line. 

Widely studied in molecular biology, atomic physics and quantum optics, optical vortices (also known as orbital angular momentum, or OAM, beams) were thought to be unstable in fibre, until Boston University engineering professor Siddharth Ramachandran recently designed an optical fibre that can propagate them. 

In a paper in journal Science, he and Alan Willner of University of Southern California, demonstrated the stability of the beams in optical fibre and also their potential to boost internet bandwidth. 

"For several decades since optical fibres were deployed, the conventional assumption has been that OAM-carrying beams are inherently unstable in fibres," said Ramachandran. 

"Our discovery, of design classes in which they are stable, has profound implications for a variety of scientific and technological fields that have exploited the unique properties of OAM-carrying light, including the use of such beams for enhancing data capacity in fibres," he said. 

Ramachandran and Willner collaborated with OFS-Fitel, a fibre optics company in Denmark, and Tel Aviv University. 

Traditionally, bandwidth has been enhanced by increasing the number of colours, or wavelengths of data-carrying laser signals essentially streams of 1s and 0s sent down an optical fibre,the signals are processed according to colour. 

An emerging strategy to boost bandwidth is to send the light through a fibre along distinctive paths, or modes, each carrying a cache of data one end of the fibre to the other. 

Unlike the colours, however, data streams of 1s and 0s different modes mix together; determining which data stream came which source requires computationally intensive and energy-hungry digital signal processing algorithms. 

Ramachandran and Willner's approach combines both strategies, packing several colours into each mode, and using multiple modes. 

In experiments in the study, researchers created an OAM fibre with four modes (an optical fibre typically has two), and showed that for each OAM mode, they could send data through a 1km fibre in 10 different colours, resulting in a transmission capacity of 1.6 terabits per second.

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US entrepreneurship reaches record levels

Entrepreneurship in the US has risen to its highest level in a decade, according to the recently released Global Entrepreneurship Monitor U.S Report.

In fact, a massive 13 per cent of the entire adult American population are currently involved in entrepreneurial activities, with a diverse cross-section of the society making up this figure.

Take a look at the below infographic, prepared by GEM, to delve deeper into the facts and see how this rise in entrepreneurship is shaping the future of the country.

Google patents photo-capturing walking stick

Google has got its new invention, a walking stick that takes pictures whenever it hits the ground, patented. 

According to the patent text, the stick has a sensor that provides location info about the elongated member's position, Discovery News reported. 

According to Geekwire, a patent application sketch shows the camera mounted on top of the stick; there are also multiple location sensors, a battery and a processing system in the middle and at the bottom there is a switch. 

The patent has also been extended to stick-like objects such as a cane, a crutch, a monopod, a trekking pole, a rod or a staff.

How smartphones are making customer care hi-tech

BANGALORE: Indian enterprises are increasingly using touch-enabled smartphones and data analytics tools to transform traditional call centre work, reducing workload on staff and claiming significantly improved customer satisfaction levels.

By integrating traditional voice support with real-time support through smartphones, enterprises are encouraging a form of self-service, sometimes without any human intervention.

That is being supplemented through predictive analytics to improve efficiency and sometimes forecast outcomes of interaction between a customer and a support executive. At India's second-largest private lender HDFC Bank, for instance, a customer applying for a loan only has to submit account credentials through a smartphone using the bank's customer-support platform.

The system, which incorporatesinformation pertaining to the customer, will analyse the credit background instantly and accept the application through the touch-based screen on the mobile phone. Using predictive analytics tools, the system also offers new services to existing customers based on their previous credit history.

Potentially, a man with a smartphone will have the same capabilities as an entire bank branch. Automated technologies can liberate the workforce currently engaged in primary call centres to participate in more productive activities which are higher on the value chain," said Nishant Singh, chief executive officer and founder of Noida-based customer relationship management firm CRMnext, which helped HDFC Bank create this service.

A recent survey by technology market researcher Gartner indicated that there would be a 60-85 % drop in call volumes when such automated self-service options are made available to customers. First piloted by a few banks, these tools are now being widely used by insurance companies and information technology firms.

Tata AIA Insurance and Reliance Capital are among other firms that are adopting similar technologies to improve customer care. Thanks to increased adoption of touch-based phones, more service providersCRMnext are offering innovative customer service ideas to clients.

For instance, Silicon Valley-based 24/7 has developed a single platform which integrates speech, touch and visual display.

These solutions can provide cost savings to enterprises by requiring fewer human agents," said PV Kannan, cofounder and CEO of 24/7 Inc, who claimed that service efficiency of clients improved by 50-75 % due to the adoption of visual and speech technologies.

Even companies that are not traditionally into customer service management are now keen on developing new platforms in this space. Corporations such as Convergys and Accenture have devised automated self-service platforms for various services hoping these would become the predominant form of customer engagement in the near future.

While the advantages of automated platforms are plenty, experts caution that it is too early to rule out human interaction as an integral part of customer care.

According to best estimates, 50-60 % of feedback calls still go through to human agents at contact centres," said Praveen Sengar of Gartner, adding that many customers still prefer that 'human touch' while resolving their problems. But optimistsCRMnext's Singh says the adoption of 4G technology will reduce the cost of internet connectivity, thus allowing automated mobile phone and internet based customer services to permeate into more areas, including rural markets.