RALEIGH, N.C. -- Designing fiber optic networks involves finding the most efficient way to connect phones and computers that are in different places - a costly and time-consuming process. Now researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a model that can find optimal connections 10,000 times more quickly, using less computing power to solve the problem.

"Problems that used to take days to solve can now be solved in just a few seconds," says Dr. George Rouskas, computer science professor at NC State and author of a paper describing the new method. The model could solve problems more than 10,000 times faster when data is routed through larger "rings," in the network, Rouskas says.

North Carolina State University