Japan Broke the Internet Speed Record at 319 Terabits per Second

We are in for an information revolution. Engineers in Japan demolished the world record for the fastest internet speed, reaching a data transmission rate of 319 Terabits per second (Tb/s), according to a paper presented at the International Conference on Optical Fiber Communications in June. This new record was made on a line of fibers more than 1,864 miles (3,000 kilometers) long. Furthermore, crucially, it is compatible with modern cable infrastructure.

This can actually change everything.

The brand-new data transfer technique breaks signals up into numerous wavelengths

Keep this in mind: we cannot emphasize enough just how quick this transmission speed is. It is nearly double the previous record of 178 Tb/s, set in 2020. Moreover, it is seven times the speed of the earlier record of 44.2 Tb/s, set with an experimental photonic chip. NASA itself utilizes a relatively primitive speed of 400 Gb/s. The brand-new record skyrockets to impossibly high above what average consumers can use (the fastest maxes out at 10 Gb/s for home internet connections).

As if there is no limit to this significant accomplishment, the record was accomplished with fiber optic infrastructure that currently exists (however, with a few advanced attachments). The research group utilized 4 “cores”. The cores are glass tubes housed within the fibers that send the data instead of the conventional common core. Afterward, the signals are broken down into a number of wavelengths sent simultaneously, utilizing a technique called wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM). The researchers utilized a rarely-employed third “band,” prolonging the distance using numerous optical amplification technologies to carry even more data.

The brand-new system starts its transmission process with a 552-channel comb laser fired at numerous wavelengths. This is then sent out through dual-polarization modulation, such that some wavelengths precede others to generate multiple signal sequences. Each of which remains in turn directed into among the four cores within the optical fiber. Data transmitted through this system moves through 43.5 miles (70 km) of optical fiber until it reaches optical amplifiers to increase the signal for its long trip. However, there is even more complexity. The signal goes through two novel sorts of fiber amplifiers, one doped in thulium, the other in erbium, before it continues on its path, in a conventional process called Raman amplification.

The world’s data infrastructure remains in for a revolution

After this, signal sequences are sent out into another segment of optical fiber. After that, the whole process repeats, enabling the scientists to send data over a shocking distance of 1,864.7 miles (3,001 kilometers). The unique four-core optical fiber possesses the same diameter as a conventional single-core fiber, bracketing the protective cladding around it. To put it simply, integrating the new technique into existing infrastructure will be much less complex than other technological overhauls to social information systems.

This is what makes the new data transfer speed record truly shine. Not just have the scientists in Japan blown the 2020 record out of the proverbial water, but they have done so with a novel engineering technique capable of integrating into modern-day fiber optic infrastructure with very little effort. We are nearing an age where the internet of the twenty-teens and early 2020s will certainly look archaic by comparison in terms of signal speed and data transfer. It is an interesting time to be alive.

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