The raw speed communication is possible at on the internet is a linchpin of VR for social use. As the immersion level deepens, and more and more bodily senses are incorporated into the simulation, the demand for high speed data transfer escalates. This report looks at some of the recent attempts to squeeze faster and faster data transference from the internet infrastructure.

Standard Internet: Ipv4

May 5 2005: University of Tokyo broke Internet speed records: 7.21 gigabits per second, sustained, over 30,000 miles using standard communications protocols on the mainstream internet.

Nov 10 2005: University of Tokyo broke Internet speed records: 7.99 gigabits per second, sustained, over 30,000 miles using standard communications protocols on the mainstream internet.

Feb 20, 2006: University of Tokyo broke Internet speed records: 8.80 gigabits per second, sustained, over 30,000 miles using standard communications protocols on the mainstream internet.

This record still stands at time of writing. It is unlikely to change.

Internet2: Ipv6

Max theoretical speed: 10 gigabits per second on any individual fibre optic thread.

Data test track:
Data starts in Tokyo and goes to Chicago, Amsterdam and Seattle before returning to Tokyo. Only sustained traffic intensity counts.

May 5 2005: Caltech and CERN broke Internet speed records: 5.11 gigabits per second, sustained, over 14,000 miles using standard communications protocols.

Nov 2005: University of Tokyo broke Internet speed records: 6.96 gigabits per second, sustained, over 20,000 miles using standard communications protocols.

Dec 30, 2006: University of Tokyo broke Internet speed records: 7.67 gigabits per second, sustained, over 20,000 miles using standard communications protocols.

Dec 31, 2006: University of Tokyo broke Internet speed records: 9.08 gigabits per second, sustained, over 20,000 miles using modified communications protocols.

Internet3

The Internet2 consortium announced plans to build a new network with a capacity of 100 Gbps per individual fibre optic strand on the backbone. The new capacity derived due to advancements in switching systems to fire pulses down the fibre at differing frequencies, and a diminished reliance on electronic switches in favour of optical.

Bandwidth

The High Performance Bandwidth Challenge is a global competition held annually since 2002, supercomputing expert teams compete to push large volumes of data across the internet at high speed. The winner is the one who shifts their data most quickly, using as many fibre links as necessary, and assembles data meaningfully at the other end.

November 2002: a team led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory won the Supercomputing Bandwidth Challenge with a sustained data transfer of 16.8 gigabits per second between Pittsburgh and Los Angeles.

November 2003: The "High Energy Physics" team of physicists, computer scientists, and network engineers won the Supercomputing Bandwidth Challenge with a sustained data transfer of 23.2 gigabits per second between Pittsburgh and Los Angeles.

November 2004: The "High Energy Physics" team of physicists, computer scientists, and network engineers won the Supercomputing Bandwidth Challenge with a sustained data transfer of 101 gigabits per second between Pittsburgh and Los Angeles.

November 2005: The "High Energy Physics" team of physicists, computer scientists, and network engineers led by the California Institute of Technology transferred physics data at a rate of over 150 gigabits per second between Pittsburgh and Los Angeles.

November 2006: A team led by researchers and technologists from Indiana University won the Supercomputing Bandwidth Challenge with a sustained data transfer of 9.2 gigabits per second without any help from routing servers.

References

The University of Tokyo
http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/index_e.html

Bandwidth Challenge 2007
http://sc07.supercomputing.org/?pg=conference.html