Not only did they break the record, the University College London team absolutely broke it, reaching a speed that is a full fifth faster than the previous attempt.
So, the UCL team managed to reach a rate of 178 terabits per second, which – if you want to get it in terms that are understandable – you can download the entire Netflix catalog in less than a second.
That’s a driving speed.
Imagine having every title on Netflix at your fingertips – forever – in just over the blink of an eye.
The previous record was 172 terabits per second, reached by the boffins at the Japanese National Institute of Communication Technology earlier this year in April.
If you are interested, the London team managed to achieve this strange and unbelievable achievement by transmitting their data over wider wavelengths than are used by optical fibers.
This means that although traditional agents use 9 Terahertz (THz), the UCL folks were transferred over 16.8THz.
Do you have all that? Well, it’s nice technical game, to be honest.
The team began by combining a load of different amplification methods that allowed them to improve the signal power at a wider bandwidth before maximizing speed with new Geometric Shaping (GS) constellations – signal patterns that use the phase, polarization and brightness of light. best – to manipulate wavelengths on an individual basis.
Yep, all that and more.
Honestly, it’s actually irrelevant whether you fully understood that sentence, but it’s worth noting that they chose this technique because it can be easily added to current infrastructure with minimal upgrades.
In fact, only the amplification equipment needed to be upgraded, which means the whole thing would cost just over £ 16,000 ($ 21,000) instead of the £ 450,000 ($ 590,000) that the cable upgrade would cost.
The lead author behind this UCL study, Dr Lidia Galdino, said: “While today’s modern cloud data center interconnections are capable of transporting up to 35 terabits per second, we’re working with new technologies that make better use of existing infrastructure. optical fiber bandwidth and enabling a world record transmission speed of 178 terabits per second. “
This is all very useful, especially considering the fact that many people are still working from home, and the internet has become more important than ever during the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr Galdino added: “Independent of the Covid-19 crisis, internet traffic has increased exponentially in the last 10 years, and this rapid growth in the demand for data is related to the cost per bit that is declining.
“The development of new technologies is crucial for maintaining this trend towards lower costs, while meeting future requirements for data rates that will continue to increase, with hitherto unthinkable applications that will transform people’s lives.”
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