Pakistani scientists work to improve poor man's broadband

Lahore (Pakistan) - Scientists at Lahore University of Management Sciences in Pakistan are working on a new system that would hopefully allow quicker downloads at a cheaper cost.

It is a combination of peer-to-peer file sharing and simple old-fashioned computer networking. The idea is that once one computer downloads a specific file and other users try to find the same file, there’s no need for those additional users to tie up the Internet.

The university says this method will make downloads more expedient, because they’re coming from immediately local hosts. According to New Scientist, it will also prevent the university from running over its broadband network capacity.

It would also reduce the cost of running an extensive, perhaps even arbitrarily extensive, network.