The Japan-based NEC Corporation (NEC), a global electronics and communications giant, appears to have set a new record after it demonstrated the ability to send 1.15Tbps (Terabits per second) of data by using a single laser and over a single "ultra-long haul" (10,000km) fibre optic cable (no repeaters) via optical superchannel technology.

The firm later expanded upon the demo by bonding four "superchannels" together via Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) technology, which splits the different colours (spectrum) of light in order to transmit more information at the same time, and was then able to achieve a total capacity (connection speed) of 4Tbps.


The results are important because they open up a new "cost-effective" and more practical solution for the high-capacity transmission of internet / data links over long transoceanic (undersea) fibre optic communication cables. Such developments could also help to bring down the cost of bandwidth for us all and ultimately give ISPs greater flexibility to adapt as demand continues to rise.

Now for the optical scientists among you.. NEC's system uses optical multi-tone generation, large-core/ultra low-loss fibre, intradyne digital coherent detection, and digital equalization at higher oversampling, along with well-established technologies such as EDFAs and DP-QPSK modulation. The experiment yielded a 2-dB system margin above the hard decision FEC threshold without using processing-intensive MAP or MLSE algorithms. Which is nice, we think.