A new world record has been established in the field of fiber optic communication

An international team of researchers led by the Photonic Network Laboratory of Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, in collaboration with Sumitomo Electric and other partners, has set a new world record in fiber optic communications. They managed to transmit data at a speed of 1.02 petabits per second over a distance of 1,808 kilometers using a new 19-core optical fiber cable of standard diameter. The researchers reported this at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC).

This distance is comparable to the length of the route from Sapporo to Fukuoka in Japan or from Berlin to Naples. The achievement was made possible by developing a fiber with 19 independent cores in a sheath with a diameter of only 0.125 mm - the same as a standard single fiber. This allows the use of existing infrastructure without significant changes.

The key elements of the breakthrough were: reduced signal losses in the C and L wavelength bands, next-generation optical amplifiers capable of simultaneously amplifying signals in all 19 channels, and an advanced digital signal processing system that eliminates mutual interference between channels.

The transmission was implemented using a ring configuration: the signal passed through an 86-kilometer fiber 21 times, which in total gave 1,808 km. Each channel used 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) on 180 wavelengths, which provided a record total bandwidth.

The overall result - 1.86 exabits per second per kilometer - became a new world record among standard diameter fibers.

The development opens up new prospects for creating scalable and energy-efficient communication networks of the future, capable of handling the exponential growth in data volume in the post-5G era. In the future, scientists plan to improve the efficiency of optical amplifiers, optimize digital signal processing, and advance technologies toward practical implementation.