NICT has done something amazing with fiber-optic data communication. They showed it is possible to send data through fiber-optic cables at 22.9 petabits per second. That’s more than double the previous record of 10.66 petabits per second.
How did they do it?
They used a multi-band-compatible MIMO receiver to combine multi-band WDM and multi-core, multi-mode SDM for the first time. In their experiment, they used 293 wavelength channels in one band (S-band) and 457 in two other bands (C- and L- bands), making a total of 750 WDM channels. These channels covered a frequency bandwidth of 18.8 THz.
They also used an excellent technique called polarization-multiplexed 256 QAM for signal modulation, an advanced way of sending signals.
Results:
The number of spatial channels in multi-band WDM transmission increased- 28.5 times more. Each core in the fiber-optic cable could transmit data at a speed ranging from ~0.3 to 0.7 petabits per second. When you add them up, it reaches a total speed of 22.9 petabits per second!
Authors noted, “The achieved data rate includes overhead for an implemented forward-error correction code with the demonstration showing up to 24.7 Pb/s can be achieved with better-optimized coding. This is over 1,000 times the data rate of currently deployed optical fiber communication systems.”
Even though uncoupled four-core MCF is appropriate for early adaption, future data traffic demand is predicted to expand by three orders of magnitude (x1,000 times), necessitating additional telecommunication infrastructure enhancement employing ultra-large-capacity optical fibers. This study by NICT is a big step towards making the internet way faster in the future!
References:
- B. J. Puttnam, M. van den Hout, G. Di Sciullo, R. S. Luis, G. Rademacher, J. Sakaguchi, C. Antonelli, C. Okonkwo, and H. Furukawa. 22.9 Pb/s Data-Rate by Extreme Space-Wavelength Multiplexing. European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC 2023) Post-deadline Paper.