We're in for
an information revolution.
Engineers in
Japan just shattered the world record for the fastest internet speed, achieving
a data transmission rate of 319 Terabits per second (Tb/s), according to a paper presented at the International Conference on Optical Fiber Communications in June. The new record was made on a line of fibers more than 1,864 miles
(3,000 km) long. And, crucially, it is compatible with modern-day cable
infrastructure.
This could
literally change everything.
The new data
transfer method breaks signals up into various wavelengths
Note well:
we can't stress enough how fast this transmission speed is. It's nearly double
the previous record of 178 Tb/s, which was set in 2020. And it's seven times
the speed of the earlier record of 44.2 Tb/s, set with an experimental photonic
chip. NASA itself uses a comparatively primitive speed of 400 Gb/s, and the new
record soars impossibly high above what ordinary consumers can use (the fastest
of which maxes out at 10 Gb/s for home internet connections).
As if
there's no limit to this monumental achievement, the record was accomplished
with fiber optic infrastructure that already exists (but with a few advanced
add-ons). The research team used four "cores", which are glass tubes
housed within the fibers that transmit the data, instead of the conventional
standard core. The signals are then broken down into several wavelengths sent
at the same time, employing a technique known as wavelength-division
multiplexing (WDM). To carry more data, the researchers used a rarely-employed
third "band", extending the distance via several optical
amplification technologies.
The new
system begins its transmission process with a 552-channel comb laser fired at
various wavelengths. This is then sent through dual polarization modulation,
such that some wavelengths go before others, to generate multiple signal
sequences — each of which is in turn directed into one of the four cores within
the optical fiber. Data transmitted via this system moves through 43.5 miles (70
km) of optical fiber, until it hits optical amplifiers to boost the signal for
its long journey. But there's even more complexity: The signal runs through two
novel kinds of fiber amplifiers, one doped in thulium, the other in erbium,
before it continues on its way, in a conventional process called Raman
amplification.
The world's
data infrastructure is in for a revolution
After this,
signal sequences are sent into another segment of optical fiber, and then the
entire process repeats, enabling the researchers to send data over a staggering
distance of 1,864.7 miles (3,001 km). Crucially, the novel four-core optical
fiber possesses the same diameter as a conventional single-core fiber,
bracketing the protective cladding around it. In other words, integrating the
new method into existing infrastructure will be far simpler than other
technological overhauls to societal information systems.
This is what
makes the new data transfer speed record really shine. Not only have the
researchers in Japan blown the 2020 record out of the proverbial water, but
they've done so with a novel engineering method capable of integrating into
modern-day fiber optic infrastructure with minimal effort. We're nearing an age
where the internet of the twenty-teens and early 2020s will look barbaric by
comparison, in terms of signal speed and data transfer. It's an exciting time
to be alive.
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