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Bell Labs Break Record With 31Tbps Via a Single 7200km Optical Fibre

Posted by timothy on from the faster-than-a-speeding-bullet dept.

Mark.JUK writes "Alcatel-Lucent's research and development division, Bell Labs, has successfully broken yet another record after it used 155 lasers (each operating at different frequencies and carrying 200Gbps of data over a 50GHz frequency grid) and an enhanced version of Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) to send information at a staggering speed of 31 Terabits per second over a single 7200km long optical fibre cable. Previous experiments have been faster but only over shorter distances or by using a different type of fibre optic cable entirely."

5 of 125 comments (clear)

  1. This is what internet is made of by cachimaster · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not wifi, wimax, 3g, 4g, ethernet, satellite, etc.
    All those tecnologies are just "last-mile" ways to bring data from this big pipes to the users. Internet is made of optical fibre.

  2. The question is by maroberts · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...whether a special type of cable was used, or whether just fitting different transmitters and receivers at each end of the cable will do the job without the need for putting down an entirely new fibre optic cable?

    --

    Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
    Karma: Chameleon

  3. How far is 7200 KM? by timeOday · · Score: 4, Insightful

    For comparison, Tokyo to Honolulu is "only" 6200 km (then 3900 from Honolulu to San Francisco). Washington DC to Paris is also 6200 km. So, as far the planet earth is concerned, it's a very realistic maximum distance of interest.

  4. Re:Too bad by SuricouRaven · · Score: 3, Insightful

    'Uncapped' means 'there is a monthly limit, but we won't tell you what it is. And we call it a fair usage policy.'

  5. No repeaters by hackertourist · · Score: 1, Insightful

    This is the first time that transoceanic cables can be made that don't need repeaters. The speed is nice, but no repeaters mean that the cable will be a lot cheaper to build and has far fewer parts that can fail. It also won't be enveloped in an electric field that attracts sharks. And finally, it becomes a lot easier to upgrade the cable later: you only need to install new equipment at either end, and don't have to worry about the repeaters being compatible with the new signalling.