Japanese Research Institutions Broke Fiber Optic Transmission Speed Record with 22.9 Pb/s

Researchers from the Japanese Intelligence and Communications Research Institute, Eindhoven University of Technology, and the University of L’Aquila have achieved a groundbreaking transmission, proving that data up to 22.9 Pb/s can be transmitted through a single fiber optic cable composed of multiple fibers. The previous world record was 10.66 Pb/s, which is equivalent to more than doubling.

Researchers have achieved this breakthrough by combining the latest research technologies with Space Division Multiplexing (SDM) and Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM). SDM uses multiple multi-core fibers and various transmission technologies to handle over 100 spatial channels, and then combines them with multi bandwidth WDM. The researchers combined this 38 core, the third mock examination optical cable through a multi band compatible MIMO receiver.

NICT stated that this is the first time that different multiplexing technologies have been combined, achieving significant progress in data transmission technology. The research findings were submitted and accepted at the 49th European Conference on Optical Communications in Glasgow. Although the technology is ready to be integrated into existing global optical connectivity infrastructure, upgrades are still needed for telecommunications centers that currently use ultra large capacity fiber optics.
In short, once deployed, the data traffic that the new infrastructure can handle is expected to increase by three orders of magnitude (1000 times). However, the transmission rate records of optical fibers are constantly being broken, and it is currently unclear which method is the most commercially viable.