A team of researchers from the Network Research Institute of the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, Japan) has achieved a new world record for bandwidth in a single fiber optics of standard diameter.
The researchers achieved a bandwidth of around 1.53 petabits per second by encoding information across 55 different light frequencies (a technique known as multiplexing). That's enough bandwidth to carry all the world's internet traffic (estimated at less than 1 petabit per second) through a single fiber optic cable. That's a far cry from the gigabit connections that mere mortals have access to (in the best-case scenarios): to be precise, it's a million times greater.
The technology works by harnessing the different frequencies of light available across the spectrum. Since each “color” within the spectrum (of visible and invisible light) has its own frequency, distinct from all others, it can be made to carry its own independent stream of information. The researchers achieved a spectral efficiency of 332 bits/s/Hz (bits per second per Hz). That's three times more efficient than their previous best attempt, in 2019, which achieved a spectral efficiency of 105 bits/s/Hz.
Post time: Nov-24-2022
