Japan establishes a new Internet speed world record of 319 terabits per second

A team of engineers from the National Institute of Information and Communication Technology (NICT) in Japan has blown the old Internet speed world record of 178 terabits per second (Tb/s) out of the water. An eye-watering 319 terabits per second. It took some creativity and tweaking to make it work, however fortunately the new fiber optics are viable with existing hardware, which means it probably won’t be too hard to even consider retrofitting existing equipment. They figured out how to accomplish 319Tb/s, while additionally keeping up with the very high speed over a long distance. There was no speed drop off over 3,001km, which is approximately 1,865 miles.

Japan reported that a team of engineers from the National Institute Information and Communication Technology (NICT) research group had accomplished a record-setting internet speed of 319 Terabits per second (Tb/s), doubling the past world record.

The past world record for internet speed was set in 2020 when UK and Japanese engineers banded together to make 178 Tb/s connection a reality. Notwithstanding, this engineering accomplishment is neglected by the present declaration that nearly doubles the old record.

NICT researchers used optical fibers, small tubes that pass data utilizing light, which are expected to accomplish the record. Regular copper cables couldn’t carry such speeds and would require substantially more complex infrastructure to work.

To accomplish this accomplishment, the scientists (led by led by Benjamin J. Puttnam) assembled a transmission system that completely uses wavelength division multiplexing technology by consolidating different amplifier tech. To accomplish this record, the team needed to use some special add-ons that are simply familiar to the extremely skilled and educated engineers working with lasers. “We demonstrate the recirculating transmission of 552 x 25 GHz spaced channels covering >120 nm of S, C, and L-bands in a 125μm diameter, 4-core fiber, measuring a decoded throughput of 319 Tb/s at 3001 km”, as the paper submission at the International Conference on Optical Fiber Communications says.

Their four-core optical fiber (with a standard outer diameter of 0.125 mm) extended 69.8 km and was looped 43 times for a final transmission distance of 3,001 km or around 1,865 miles.

The research paper on the matter really expounds in case you’re into something like that and includes the utilization of uncommon earth ions and lasers. It sounds equivalent parts of complicated and marvelous, expecting obviously that you can sort out everything.

The group said the optical fiber they utilized can be cabled with existing equipment. The expectation, they added, is that the breakthrough can enable practical, high data-rate transmission soon, maybe as the next step beyond 5G.

Obviously, such a high speed doesn’t come without presenting a few pieces of novel engineering. The cable utilized was a four-core optical fiber utilizing “552 PDM-16QAM, wavelength-division multiplexed channels.” The engineers also took advantage of “erbium and thulium doped-fiber amplifiers and distributed Raman amplification.”

The immense speed up was likewise because of the engineering team utilizing S, C, and L band transmission for the first time. Normally C and L bands are utilized for long haul transmission, yet this time the S-band was used, as well. The other good news is the four-core optical fiber works with existing equipment, which should make it simpler and less expensive to deploy.

The team at NICT is not done at this point, however. They believe there’s more speed to be found and further increments to transmission capacity accessible. There’s additionally going to be work done “to extend the transmission range to trans-oceanic distances.”

They have utilized a 552-channel comb laser that fires different wavelengths. Later on, these light streams are processed and amplified by new sorts of fiber amplifiers doped in thulium and erbium. The process that follows after amplification is the regular Raman amplification. While the operations of this methodology are highly complex, the net result is that the accomplished speed is a monstrous breakthrough.

The team could carry this speed for more than 3000 kilometers and keep up with the transmission capacity it makes with no performance drops. The engineers said that even a standard optical fiber infrastructure could support these types of speeds, however, it would have to go through a few changes first.

It’s almost difficult to imagine this kind of raw bandwidth going to our homes and offices; in any case, the applications and possibilities would be endless. We wouldn’t pause our breathing looking out for our local ISP to carry out the tech any time soon, however.

The speed test was acted in a lab utilizing advanced fiber optic technology. Numerous fiber optic cables contain one core and a lot of cladding, or covering, to secure the information inside. NICT’s framework utilized an exploratory strand of fiber optic link with four centers housed in a cable generally the size of a standard fiber optic line.

“The 4-core [multi-core fibers] with standard cladding diameter is attractive for early adoption of [space division multiplexing] fibers in high-throughput, long-distance links, since it is compatible with conventional cable infrastructure and expected to have mechanical reliability comparable to single-mode fibers,” NICT said in a paper about the experiment.

NICT looped the information through coiled bits of fiber optic that simulated a transmission distance of 3,001 km or around 1,864 miles without a debasement of the signal or speed. That is great, however, there’s still a lot of work to do and the strategy for achieving this speed was complicated.

The specialists utilized a 552-channel comb laser firing at various wavelengths and pushed through amplifiers made of uncommon earth minerals to accomplish the incredible speed. That is not modest and the engineers envisioned this will essentially be utilized to push information rapidly across tremendous distances instead of for, say, allowing you to download video games right away.

In any case, the team believes the primary innovation here is the new 4-core optical fiber optic cable it’s created. It’s a similar size, generally, as a standard fiber optic cable and NICT trusts, it very well may be effectively carried out in existing systems to give tremendous speed support. “The standard cladding diameter, 4-core optical fiber can be cabled with existing equipment, and it is hoped that such fibers can enable practical high data-rate transmission in the near-term, contributing to the realization of the backbone communications system, necessary for the spread of new communication services Beyond 5G,” they said in their paper.

It stays not yet seen whether the results will be affirmed, and exactly how costly it is executed, yet given the enormous speed up, it will undoubtedly get on, particularly in tech-savvy countries like Japan. Before sufficiently long, existing internet speeds will soon look primitive.