Aston University researchers sent data 4.5 million times faster than the average broadband.
Researchers at Aston University have achieved a groundbreaking milestone: they’ve transmitted data at an astonishing speed, surpassing home broadband rates by a staggering 4.5 million times.
This feat, accomplished through international collaboration, saw data transfer at a mind-boggling rate of 301 terabits per second using standard optical fiber, compared to the average home broadband speed of just 69.4 megabits per second.
Led by Professor Wladek Forysiak and Dr Ian Phillips, alongside partners from Japan and the USA, the team unlocked new wavelength bands within optical fiber systems, paving the way for unprecedented data transmission, setting the stage for meeting the escalating demand for data in the future.
Dr Ian Phillips with the wavelength management device / Aston University
Dr Phillips said:
“Broadly speaking, data was sent via an optical fibre like a home or office internet connection.
However, alongside the commercially available C and L-bands, we used two additional spectral bands called E-band and S-band. Such bands traditionally haven’t been required because the C- and L-bands could deliver the required capacity to meet consumer needs.
Over the last few years Aston University has been developing optical amplifiers that operate in the E-band, which sits adjacent to the C-band in the electromagnetic spectrum but is about three times wider. Before the development of our device, no one had been able to properly emulate the E-band channels in a controlled way.”
source Aston University
