Facebook announces 'Bombyx' robot for optical fiber equipment
Facebook has announced new technologies to spread faster and more stable internet connectivity around the world. Facebook announced the robot ' Bombyx
Connectivity Technologies for the Next Billion People --About Facebook
https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/connectivity-technologies-for-the-next-billion-people/
Facebook says its fiber-spinning robot will dramatically reduce costs | FierceTelecom
https://www.fiercetelecom.com/tech/facebook-says-its-fiber-spinning-robot-will-dramatically-reduce-costs
Facebook Connectivity unveils robot that can speed fiber deployment | VentureBeat
https://venturebeat.com/2021/10/07/facebook-connectivity-unveils-robot-that-can-speed-fiber-deployment/
The Internet is the infrastructure that makes our lives and work convenient. The Internet is showing its convenience more and more due to the pandemic of the new coronavirus, but the amount of data used per person is increasing by 20 to 30% every year, and there is a big difference in communication speed and usage rate depending on the country or region. It's clear. Facebook claims that 'new innovations are needed' to solve these challenges and provide more people with a fast and reliable internet connection.
Facebook Connectivity, which is developing technology related to Internet connection within Facebook, has provided a high-speed Internet connection environment to more than 300 million people around the world since 2013. Facebook Connectivity is announcing new technologies to provide even better Internet connectivity to more people.
Facebook Connectivity announced the following three 'new technologies to provide a fast and reliable Internet connection environment to more people'.
◆ Submarine cable laying project by Facebook
Submarine cables connecting continents are a very important infrastructure as the basis of the global Internet. Facebook's first transatlantic submarine cable connects Europe and the United States, achieving 200 times the data communication capacity of submarine cables laid in the 2000s. Facebook is proceeding with a project on submarine cables, and in 2020 announced a plan for the layout of the world's longest submarine cable '2Africa' that connects Africa with Europe and Asia.
Facebook also announced that it will add an extension to the Middle East called '2Africa Pearls' to 2Africa. This makes 2Africa a submarine cable with a total length of over 45,000 km.
◆ Robot 'Bombyx' that can lay optical fibers along power lines
In addition, Facebook Connectivity announced Bombyx, a robot that can lay fiber cables along power lines as a new technology for deploying fiber optic Internet in a wider area. Facebook Connectivity said about Bombyx, 'Bombyx can make a significant financial contribution to fiber optic equipment around the world because it can lay fiber optic equipment around the world lighter, faster and more agile.' It is written.
Normally, when laying an optical fiber over a transmission line, it is necessary to investigate the load on the tower that supports the transmission line and, in some cases, to reinforce or replace the tower. On the other hand, Facebook has developed Bombyx as a robot to lay a new optical fiber cable by 'helical wrap method' in which an optical fiber cable is wrapped around a power transmission line. When laying fiber optic cables in this way, the initial cost can be significantly reduced because no new equipment is required for laying.
The following movie shows how Bombyx actually works.
Bombyx uses a helical wrap method that winds fiber optic cables around existing power lines without additional equipment. It seems that it was necessary to develop a cable that is lighter and thinner than the existing fiber optic cable (left) in order to wind the fiber optic cable without additional equipment. The lightweight fiber optic cable (right) used in Bombyx is only 28 pounds (12.7 kg) at 1 km, compared to the conventional one, which is 1 km long and weighs 250 pounds (about 113 kg). ) And it is very light.
Bombyx was developed with the aim of being a widely applicable solution to reduce the cost of building optical fibers. Facebook Connectivity is developing Bombyx as an 'open access, fair and equitable technology' for fiber optic equipment, with the hope that it will 'provide a cheaper high-speed Internet.' I have. '
Facebook plans to test Bombyx in 2022 and has already partnered with
◆ 'Terragraph' that realizes high-speed wireless Internet at the wired level
In addition, Facebook has also revealed that it is developing a technology called 'Terragraph ' that realizes communication speed of optical fiber communication level wirelessly. Terragraph has already been deployed in Anchorage, Alaska, USA, and has been piloted in more than 6,500 homes. In addition, Terragraph is planned to be deployed in Perth, Australia.
Terragraph is a technology to fill the so- called 'last mile ' provided for areas where fiber optic equipment costs exorbitantly and markets where application takes time. Terragraph is equipped with a millimeter-wave radio, which can provide high-speed communication at the optical fiber level at a low cost.
The data transfer speed is 5.6 Gbps both up and down at peak times, and the delay is less than 1 millisecond. The maximum connectable distance is over 2km.
Since Terragraph can be attached to existing structures on the road, it can dramatically reduce the time required for construction and opening compared to wired equipment such as optical fibers. In addition, the ability to configure a multi-node restoring mesh network guarantees the level of network availability provided by telecommunications carriers and allows equipment to be easily expanded to meet demand.
Related Posts:
in Web Service, Video, Posted by logu_ii