World record-shattering 402 TB data sent in a second via optical fiber

A team of researchers has established a novel optical transmission bandwidth to enable a new data-rate record in optical fiber.

The group could achieve 37.6 THz bandwidth to enable a record of 402 terabytes per second (tb/s) in a standard commercially accessible optical fiber, signifying a significant achievement in the field of telecommunications.

The introduction of novel optical gain equalizers enabled access to previously unused wavelength bands in currently deployed systems.

According to researchers at the Photonic Network Laboratory of Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), the innovative technology is anticipated to significantly enhance the communication capacity of optical communication infrastructure, meeting the rising demand for future data services.

Boosting data transmission

The increasing demand for optical transmission bandwidth driven by the growth of internet and data services has led to the rise of multi-band wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology.

This approach uses new spectral windows to enhance optical fiber transmission bandwidth, offering a cost-effective way to extend the life of existing fiber systems without the high costs of new fiber deployment.

However, expanding beyond the lowest loss regions of standard silica fibers necessitates new amplification schemes beyond the traditional erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) used in C-band or C+L-band systems.

According to the team, various amplifier solutions, including thulium-doped fiber amplifiers (T-DFAs), semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs), and Raman amplification, have been explored, achieving data rates up to 256 Tb/s over nearly 20 THz bandwidth.

Wider transmission demonstrations have utilized bismuth-doped fiber amplifiers (B-DFAs) and Raman amplifiers, achieving up to 320 Tb/s data rates across 27.8 THz bandwidth in multiple bands.

The NICT study aimed to extend dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) transmission across all key transmission bands in standard optical fibers’ low-loss range, enabling over 1,500 simultaneous transmission channels across a wide 37.6 THz (275 nm) optical bandwidth.

Next-gen optical amplification

Together with partners, NICT researchers created the world’s first O-to-U-band transmission system for DWDM using commercially available standard optical fiber and custom amplifier technology.

According to researchers, the system employs six different DFA variants for O, E, S, C, and L bands, discrete (U-band), distributed Raman amplification, and new optical gain equalizers for O and E bands.

The system transmitted a wide DWDM signal with up to 1,505 channels over 50 km of specialized optical fiber, covering 275 nm (37.6 THz) from 1,281.2 nm to 1,649.9 nm across O, E, S, C, L, and U bands.

The NICT team claims that high data rates were achieved using dual polarization (DP) quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) with up to 256 symbols per constellation.

The generalized mutual information (GMI) estimated data rate after 50 km was 402 Tb/s, surpassing the previous highest single-mode fiber (SMF) data rate by over 25 percent and increasing the transmission bandwidth by 35 percent.

Researchers say these results demonstrate the potential of ultra-wideband transmission to significantly boost the information-carrying capacity of both new and existing optical fibers.

The massive rise in optical transmission systems’ data rates is anticipated to make “Beyond 5G” information services possible. “New wavelength regions enable deployed optical fiber networks to perform higher data-rate transmission and extend the useful life of existing network systems,” researchers said in a statement .

In order to facilitate novel transmission windows for both short- and long-term applications, NICT will keep funding research and development into new amplifier technologies, parts, and fibers.

Additionally, NICT will work to increase the bandwidth transmission range of ultra-high capacity systems and their field-deployed fiber compatibility.