Researchers at Aston University, along with their international team, have set a new record by achieving a data transmission rate of 402 terabits per second using standard optical fiber. This groundbreaking accomplishment holds the potential to stabilize broadband costs amid rising demand for high-speed internet.
In collaboration with an international team, Aston University researchers transmitted data at a remarkable rate of 402 terabits per second through commercially available optical fiber. This new record surpasses their previous milestone set in March 2024, where they achieved a data rate of 301 terabits per second, or 301,000,000 megabits per second, using a single standard optical fiber.
To put this into perspective, the researchers noted, “If compared to the internet connection speed recommendations of Netflix, which suggests 3 Mbit/s or higher for watching an HD movie, this speed is over 100 million times faster.”
The record-breaking speed was attained by utilizing a wider spectrum, employing six wavelength bands rather than the previous four, thus increasing the data-sharing capacity. Typically, only one or two bands are used. The international research team included Professor Wladek Forysiak and Dr. Ian Philips from Aston University’s Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies (AIPT). The team was led by the Photonic Network Laboratory of the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) based in Tokyo, Japan, and also included Nokia Bell Labs in the USA.
The feat was achieved by constructing the first optical transmission system that covers six wavelength bands (O, E, S, C, L, and U) used in fiber optical communication. Aston University specifically contributed by building a set of U-band Raman amplifiers, which cover the longest part of the combined wavelength spectrum, where conventional doped fiber amplifiers are not commercially available. Unlike regular copper cables, optical fibers are small tubular strands of glass that transmit information using light, allowing for much higher data speeds.
This innovative technique not only increases capacity by approximately a third but also leverages “standard fiber” already deployed globally in large quantities, eliminating the need for new specialist cables. As the demand for data from businesses and individuals continues to rise, this discovery could help maintain stable broadband prices while significantly improving capacity and speed.
Dr. Ian Philips of Aston University stated, “This finding could help increase capacity on a single fiber so the world would have a higher-performing system. The newly developed technology is expected to make a significant contribution to expanding the communication capacity of the optical communication infrastructure as future data services rapidly increase demand.”
Professor Wladek Forysiak added, “This is a ‘hero experiment’ made possible by a multi-national team effort and very recent technical advances in telecommunications research laboratories from across the world.”
The results of this experiment were accepted as a post-deadline paper at the 47th International Conference on Optical Fiber Communications (OFC 2024) in the USA on March 28.
By Impact Lab
