Broadband is an essential tool for both the present and future of communications. Through broadband, we’ve been able to connect regions of the country and the world that were once extremely isolated, bringing Canada closer together. But broadband technologies continue to develop to provide even faster connections and greater capacity, opening the door to whole new worlds of connectivity and services.

The Broadband Network Technologies Research Branch addresses issues that affect or restrict the continued development of these technologies. These can include the interoperability, network standards and security, and the convergence of communications, broadcast and computer technologies. At the same time, we are working in photonics and optoelectronics to increase network capacity and versatility.

By conducting research in these areas, we are also able to provide important information and advice to Industry Canada, National Defence and other federal departments and agencies, as well as the telecommunications industry as a whole. This allows these partners to better plan, develop and implement new systems and services.

CRC is also able to show how broadband can be used to make people’s lives better through demonstration projects. Recently, the Terrestrial Wireless Branch collaborated with the Broadband Network Technologies Branch in a project demonstrating the use of standard Internet protocols to receive surveillance information from a mini unmanned air vehicle (UAV) flying in Canada on a monitoring station in Germany over 5000 kilometers away. This was part of the Canadian presence at CeBIT 2005, and more information is available at http://www.canada-cebit.com.