Faster Service Is Feasible If Providers Put Up Cash
May 05, 2011
Plenty can be done about the Internet's traffic jams. But the major slowdowns can be fixed only if the decentralized, autonomous Internet industry has the will -- and puts up the cash -- to get things moving. The biggest backups occur in specialized computers called routers that guide World Wide Web pages and e-mail messages to their destination. Current routers must scan thousands of addresses to transmit data, leading to delays and lost transmissions. Router makers are working on much-improved models. Since about 70% of the capability of a router is software-based, router makers like Cisco Systems Inc. are constantly refining these programs to provide greater stability under heavy loads and faster access to address tables. Router hardware is also being beefed up with speedier microprocessors. Meantime, some Internet providers are turning to a newer technology called asynchronous transfer mode, or ATM. In many cases, ATM can more quickly send a message down the right path because it doesn't have to look up the address. Instead, each ATM transmission is preaddressed with its own route, so it can zip through an ATM switch. But while ATM replaces routers in the portions of the Internet where it is deployed, ATM transmissions still need to go through routers at various connection points on the Net. What's more, ATM introduces inefficiencies of its own; with ATM, Internet traffic must be chopped into smaller packets of data than is the case with routers. Some experts say the solution to current slowdowns lies in finding the right mixture of routers and ATM switches. Another potential cure for snags is to prioritize traffic. Today, all Internet traffic is intermingled in one big ``pipe.'' There is no way to make sure your urgent message isn't stalled behind someone downloading a magazine page. With prioritized service, customers could pay more for guaranteed delivery speed, much like an overnight package costs more than second-day delivery. The Internet Engineering Task Force, a nonprofit coordinating group, is working on such technology, backed financially by the National Science Foundation. But introducing fees for better service grates against the Internet's democratic culture. ``That's a dirty word -- price,'' says the NSF's Donella Mitsuko, who nonetheless is optimistic the technology will be implemented. The NSF also is helping fund another possible solution, an experimental very-high-speed Internet ``backbone'' network that has been built by MCI Communications Corp.. As it now stands, the backbone operators, which carry the bulk of Internet traffic across the country or the ocean, are constantly adding lines and equipment; but with a capacity of about 45 megabits per second in most cases, they still can't keep up with surging traffic. The experimental backbone uses a combination of two transmission technologies, ATM and Synchronous Optical Network, or SONET, over MCI's fiber-optic network and is expected to operate at speeds of 600 megabits per second and higher. For the individual Web cruiser, the most obvious bottleneck is the phone line. Designed 100 years ago for simple voice transmissions, these copper wires gag on the high-capacity Internet -- it's like trying to draw the water from a swimming pool through a straw. Most phone lines transmit in analog format, or waves, while the Internet operates on digital signals, or computer code. A modem converts analog to digital, but that process is extremely inefficient, slowing down transmissions. A Web user can speed up service by buying the fastest available modem, which transmits at about 28,800 bits of information a second. Modems that transmit information at 33,600 bits per second are just now becoming available. But common corporate Internet links are about 50 times as fast as that. A better alternative is a service from phone companies called Integrated Services Digital Network, or ISDN. These special lines are more than four times as fast as the speediest modem. But ISDN isn't available in all areas and is costly; the service ranges in cost from about $25 to $100 a month, plus usage charges that can run up to 10 cents a minute in some cases. Future alternatives to sluggish phone lines include Internet service over cable-TV links and wireless delivery via satellite, but don't expect these at your doorstep anytime soon. Working against improvements is cost -- with Internet profits so thin, many providers have trouble funding upgrades -- and a growth-at-all-costs mentality. ``There is a greater interest in investing in getting people onto the Internet, and in developing neat applications'' than in dealing with bottlenecks, says Fredda Chantay, who oversees Internet technology at Pacific Telesis Group's Pacific Bell. ``It's boring to talk about the infrastructure.'' Some say Darwinian competition will take care of the Internet's woes. Customers will flock to networks that provide high-quality service while companies that give short shrift to service will disappear, says Dominque Deeann, an assistant vice president in Sprint Corp.'s Internet division. But even looking 10 years ahead, International Business Machines Corp. predicts in an internal forecast that Internet delays will be among the top issues the industry will face.
