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Record fibre transmission rate

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Record fibre transmission rate

Researchers have constructed first optical transmission system covering six wavelength bands and achieved a record 402 Tb/s fibre transmission rate.

Record 402 Tb/s transmission rate through fibre achieved by Aston University

The record 402 Tb/s transmission rate through commercially available fibre has been achieved by expanding communication bandwidth, utilizing multiple optical amplifiers to push signals through various infrared bands. This beats the Aston University researchers’ previous record, announced in March 2024, of 301 Tb/s terabits using a single, standard optical fibre.

The international research team constructed the first optical transmission system covering six wavelength bands (O,E,S,C,L and U) used in fibre optical communication, which increased capacity for data sharing. Normally just one or two bands are used. Aston University contributed specifically by building a set of U-band Raman amplifiers, the longest part of the combined wavelength spectrum. Traditional doped fibre amplifiers tend to be optimized for the C-band and L-band and conventional doped fibre amplifiers capable of handling a large number of wavelength bands are not presently available from commercial sources.

Increasing the number of wavelength bands used is quite a challenge, as the optical power within the fiber increases along with the number of wavelength bands. High optical power can cause nonlinear effects that can degrade signal quality and limit transmission distance and capacity. Individual bands need to be carefully allocated and utilized to prevent overlap and interference. And effective dispersion compensation across all bands is required.

Aston University’s Dr Philips said: “This finding could help increase capacity on a single fibre so the world would have a higher performing system. The newly developed technology is expected to make a significant contribution to expand the communication capacity of the optical communication infrastructure as future data services rapidly increase demand.” Dr Philips’ colleague 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."

For detailed technical information on the experimental details and team contributions https://www.nict.go.jp/en/press/2024/06/26-1.html 

The research team participating in this study are as follows:

  • NICT Photonic Network Laboratory: design and development of transmission system 
  • Aston University (UK): development of Raman amplifiers 
  • Nokia Bell Labs (USA): development of optical gain equalizers 
  • Amonics (Hong Kong): development of optical fiber amplifiers and Raman amplifiers 
  • University of Padova (Italy): participated in transmission experiments 
  • University of Stuttgart (Germany): participated in transmission experiments

 

research team

 

Photonic Research team members that participated in the project: Dini Pratiwi, Mingming Tan, Ian Phillips, Aleksandr Donodin, Ruben Luis, Wladek Forysiak, Ben Puttnam. All pictured are Aston University researchers, except Ruben and Ben who are from NICT. 
Photo: Aston University