Broadband4.08.2014

World data transfer record: 43Tbps

By Staff Writer

The world champions in data transmission are to be found in Lynbgy, where the High-Speed Optical Communications (HSOC) team at DTU Fotonik has just secured yet another world record.

This time the team eclipsed the record that was set by researchers at the Karlsruhe Institut fur Technologie, by proving that it was possible to transfer data at 43 terabits per second with just a single laser in the transmitter.

This is an appreciable improvement on the German team’s previous record of 32 terabits per second.

The worldwide competition in data speed is contributing to developing the technology intended to accommodate the immense growth of data traffic on the internet, which is estimated to be growing by 40 – 50 per cent annually.

Of concern are emissions linked to the total energy consumption of the internet, which, as a whole, currently correspond to more than two per cent of the global man-made carbon emissions. This puts the internet on a par with the transport industry (aircraft, shipping, etc.).

However, these other industries are not growing by 40 per cent a year. It is therefore essential to identify solutions that make significant reductions in energy consumption while simultaneously expanding bandwidth.

This is precisely what the DTU team has demonstrated with its latest world record. DTU researchers previously helped achieve the highest combined data transmission speed in the world – an incredible 1 petabit per second – although this involved using hundreds of lasers.

The researchers achieved their latest record by using a new type of optical fibre borrowed from the Japanese telecoms giant NNT.

This type of fibre contains seven cores (glass threads) instead of the single core used in standard fibres, which makes it possible to transfer even more data. Despite the fact that it comprises of seven cores, the new fibre does not take up any more space than the standard version.

The record result has been verified and presented in what is known as a ‘post deadline paper’ at the CLEO 2014 international conference.

The High-Speed Optical Communications team at DTU Fotonik has held the world record in data transmission on numerous occasions.

Back in 2009, these researchers were the first in the world to break the ‘terabit barrier’, which was considered an almost insurmountable challenge at that time, when they succeeded in transmitting more than 1 terabit per second – again using just a single laser.