New World Record as Fibre Optic Speeds Pushed to 319Tbps

Scientists in Japan have just shattered last year’s world record for the fastest fibre optic internet data transfer speed by using a four core fibre cable to transmit data at 319Tbps (Terabits per second) over a whopping distance of 3001km, which compares with the previous record (here) of 178Tbps over 40km in London UK.

The team used an existing 4-core fibre cable for their test, albeit with the very latest in amplification technologies (some doped in rare earth elements like thulium and others in erbium), as well as Distributed Raman Amplification (DRA), and across three signal bands (S, C and L). 

After that a 552-channel comb laser was then used to send the signal across the various wavelengths and down the fibre (i.e. 552 PDM-16QAM, wavelength-division multiplexed [WDM] channels). The cable itself had the same cladding diameter (125 µm) as standard single-core optical fibre, which ensures some compatibility with conventional cabling infrastructure and reduces concerns over the mechanical reliability of larger fibres.

In order to boost the signal, the aforementioned amplifiers were deployed at intervals of 69.8km along the cable.

The team, which are based at the National Research and Development Agency (NICT) in Japan, plan to continue their development of wide-band, long-distance transmission systems, with the aim of achieving further improvements in transmission speed and range.

As we always say, you’re unlikely to see this sort of speed being delivered to homes anytime even remotely soon, but it is the sort of work that could be harnessed in the future to boost the performance of longer international (e.g. subsea) and national fibre routes. The ability to carry more data down existing cables also tends to result in cheaper capacity from suppliers, which ultimately benefits broadband ISPs and their customers too.