On May 9, Chinese scientists announced that they have broken the world record for data transmission capacity using single-mode multi-core optical fiber, achieving a remarkable 4.1 Pbit/s with a 19-core fiber optic cable.
Research team sets record with 19-core fiber optic cable. (Photo: CFP).
The National Key Laboratory for Optical Network and Communication Technology, part of the China Information and Communication Technology Group (CICT), previously set a world record in November last year with a transmission rate of 3.03 Pbit/s. They employed a combination of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM)/space division multiplexing (SDM) along with transmission through a 19-core fiber optic cable, utilizing 680 wavelength channels spaced approximately 25 GHz apart, with a total bandwidth of 17 THz. The findings from that research were published in the IEEE Photonics Technology Letters journal.
Approximately six months later, the laboratory surpassed its own record, achieving a total transmission capacity of 4.1 Pbit/s, marking an increase of nearly 40% compared to last year’s record. To achieve this new record, Xiao Xi, the laboratory director, stated that the research and development team had optimized and upgraded the optical system structure and digital signal processing algorithms.
Maintaining a bandwidth of 17 THz across the S, C, and L bands, the research team optimized several optoelectronic devices within the system for ultra-wide optical spectrum, improving the performance of the transmission channels across different frequency bands. Simultaneously, they applied advanced algorithms to maximize the transmission capacity of the 680 wavelength channels across the S, C, and L bands. Through this, the researchers maximized the transmission power of each core and channel by adjusting the information entropy (a measure of the disorder in signals derived from random events) of the signals.
