New research provides extremely broad bandwidth and could bring the next generation of wireless data connections that will transfer a 4.7 GB DVD in just a few seconds. This new product will finally get us rid of the tangle of wires that lurk under the desk.

Scientists at the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) at Georgia Tech used extremely high radio frequencies (RF) to obtain the most impressive wireless data-transfer rates at short distances. The highest of them will be achieved at a distance of 1 meter and will top at 15 gigabits per second (Gbps).

While the speed decreases with the distance, it remains impressive, the official figures showing a 10 Gbps transfer rate at 2 meters and a 5 Gbps one at 5 meters. These rates are ideal for individual computers, located in close proximity in enclosed space, but also for the components of the same computer.

Another advantage is the fact that the product focuses on RF frequencies around 60 gigahertz (GHz), which are presently free of taxes for any person in the US. "The goal here is to maximize data throughput to make possible a host of new wireless applications for home and office connectivity," said Prof. Joy Laskar, GEDC director and lead researcher on the project along with Stephane Pinel.

"GEDC's multi-gigabit wireless research is expected to lend itself to two major types of applications, data and video", said Pinel, a research scientist. This means that very high speed p2p connections will be within our reach in the very near future, potentially in less than two years.

"Our work represents a huge leap in available throughput," Pinel said. "At 10 Gbps, you could download a DVD from a kiosk to your cell phone in five seconds, or you could quickly synchronize two laptops or two iPods."

All major data applications could benefit from this extreme increase in data transfer speed, so laptops, MP3 players, externals HDDs and even cellphones will be able to exchange huge amounts of data in just a few seconds.