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Aston University researchers and their international team have set a new data transfer record of 402 terabits per second using standard optical fibre, potentially offsetting broadband costs as
Aston University researchers and their international team have set a new data transfer record of 402 terabits per second using standard optical fibre, potentially offsetting broadband costs as demand increases.
Working with the team, researchers from Aston University achieved a new record by transmitting 402 terabits per second of data over commercially available optical fibre. This achievement surpasses the previous record set in March 2024, when they managed to send data at a speed of 301 terabits per second (equivalent to 301,000,000 megabits per second) using a single standard optical fibre.
“This is 100 million times faster than the 3 Mbps or faster Internet connection speed that Netflix recommends for streaming HD movies,” the researchers wrote.
The speed was achieved by using a wider spectrum, using six bands instead of the previous four, and increasing data transfer capacity. Usually, one or two bands are used. The international research team included Professor Vladek Forysiak and Dr Ian Phillips from the Institute of Photonic Technology (AIPT) at Aston University. The team was led by the Photonic Networks Laboratory at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Tokyo, Japan, and also includes Nokia Bell Laboratories in the USA.
Together they have achieved success in creating the first optical transmission system covering the six wavelength ranges used in fibre optic communications (O, E, S, C, L and U). Aston University has made a special contribution by creating a series of U-band Raman amplifiers, the longest part of the spectrum where conventional doped fibre amplifiers are not currently available from commercial sources.
Optical fibers are small tubular glass ribbons that transmit information using light, unlike traditional copper cables, which cannot transmit data at these speeds. In addition to increasing bandwidth by about a third, the technology uses “standard fiber”, which is already in large quantities around the world, so there is no need to install new special cables.
As demand for data from businesses and individuals increases, this new discovery could help keep broadband prices stable despite increases in bandwidth and speed.
Dr Phillips, from Aston University, said: “This discovery could help increase the bandwidth of a single fibre, enabling the world to have a more productive system. The newly developed technology is expected to make a significant contribution to expanding the communications capacity of optical communications infrastructure as future data services rapidly increase demand.”
His colleague Professor Vladek Forysiak added: “This is a ‘heroic experiment’ made possible by the efforts of a multinational team and the latest technical advances in telecommunications research laboratories around the world.”
The results of the experiment were accepted as a paper after the deadline at the 47th International Conference on Optical Fiber Communications (OFC 2024), held in the United States on March 28.
Source: Port Altele
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