Researchers from Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology have carried out a fastest internet speed world recorddemonstrating a transmission capacity of more than one petabit per second (Pbps).
The same institute previously achieved a speed record of 1 Pbps in December 2020.
While they had used a standard cladding diameter to get the system to this speed, it was using 15-mode optical fiber, which is not used in conventional fiber architecture.
This required complex multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) digital signal processing to decipher the multiplexed data signals during transmission.
To use such a system, MIMO needs dedicated integrated circuits, which makes it practically unfeasible for large-scale deployment.
The researchers said they believe their new 1 Pbps system will be compatible with conventional cable infrastructure, helping to cope with the explosive increase in data traffic from information and communications services beyond 5G.
How it worked
The last system used fiber cables consisting of four conductors with a standard sheath diameter of 0.125 mm.
Using wideband wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology, the researchers enabled 801 parallel wavelength channels, giving them access to a record-breaking optical bandwidth of 20 THz.
This consisted of 335 wavelengths in S-band, 200 in C-band, and 266 in L-band, each providing 25 GHz.
They also used mixed optical amplification systems to account for data loss over distance.
With the combination of technologies, they could transmit at 1.02 petabytes per second over 51.7 km.
That figure equates to 1.02 million Gbps per second – a million times faster than the fastest internet speed available to South African fiber optic users.
The table below shows how the latest system compares to previous remarkable speeds the researchers have achieved with other demonstrations.
