Japan has set a new internet data-transfer speed record of 319 Tb/s, breaking the previous milestone set less than a year earlier.
Last year, a collaborative effort between researchers in Japan and the United Kingdom produced a record speed of 178 Tb/s. That achievement was remarkable, but the new result from Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) raises the bar significantly.
The 319 Tb/s throughput was achieved using a four-core optical fibre whose overall size remained comparable to that of a single-core fibre. The team employed a 552-channel frequency comb to generate multiple laser wavelengths, which were transmitted through optical amplifiers to carry the data streams.
Those optical amplifiers rely on rare-earth elements such as erbium and thulium, making the experimental setup expensive and complex. Because of these material and cost factors, the approach is not yet suitable for immediate large-scale commercial deployment.
It is important to note that this demonstration took place in a laboratory environment under controlled conditions. Real-world deployment would encounter additional challenges, including environmental variations, network switching, and infrastructure constraints that can affect performance.
To emulate long-distance transmission, the researchers wound the multi-core fibre repeatedly onto a large spool to simulate 3,001 km of optical link. In that simulated distance test, they reported no measurable loss in speed or signal quality, indicating strong potential for long-haul backbone applications.
Although consumer connections will not reach these speeds in the near term, the experiment demonstrates promising directions for enhancing optical backbone networks and specialized high-capacity links. Potential applications include research institutions, high-performance data centers, and government communications that require extremely high throughput and low latency.
(Photo by Tianshu Liu on Unsplash)
Find out more about Digital Transformation Week North America, taking place on November 9–10, 2021. This virtual event and conference explores advanced digital transformation strategies for a “digital everything” world.