Nobody has noticed anything, but high above Eindhoven, researchers from the Technical University (TU/e) have achieved something special. Scientists succeeded in sending data with (invisible) infrared light with a record speed over a distance of approximately five kilometers. According to scientists, this has never been shown before, certainly not in a busy environment.
Citizens and companies will not be able to take advantage of it for the time being, but someday this must be the case, the TU/e says hopeful. Due to the new technology, new 5G/6G antennas could be linked wirelessly to existing networks.
“We need new ways to meet the growing demand for fast and reliable connections,” says Vincent van Vliet, researcher at TU/e and involved in the project. According to him, this new technology makes an unprecedented growth of wireless network capacity possible.
Special antennas
Special optical antennas were used on two high roofs for the test. One stood up of a building of the TU/e itself, the other on a building of the High Tech Campus (HTC), on the outskirts of Eindhoven, along the A2 motorway.
The researchers wanted to demonstrate that sending data is possible in an urban environment, without this being influenced from outside. For example, with infrared light, it was possible to send data with ‘a stunning speed’ of 5.7 Terrabit per second. The amount of data is compared to 1.9 million streamed Netflix series in HD.
According to TU/e, something like that had never been done before. This was the fastest wireless data transmission on such a long distance ever in an urban environment, scientists conclude. The distance between the two antennas is 4.6 kilometers. Those test setups will remain there, because the researchers are not nearly ready yet. The future must show to what extent companies or citizens benefit from it.
New possibilities
The tested technology already exists in fiber optic networks. If data wireless, via infrared, can be sent so quickly, it gives many new possibilities. Among other things in areas where fiber optic is too expensive or impractical. Transport of data through the air would then be a more than reasonable alternative everywhere in the world.
Infrared rays can feel warm (think of the infrared sauna) and you should not look into it immediately. According to the university, this is not the case with this experiment because of the narrow and hardly visible bundle, but also because the antennas are so high.
The researchers of the TU/e work in the test together with AirCision, which is located at the HTC. This company produces systems with ultra -high capacity and is a derivative of research institute TNO. Instead of cables or radio signals, Aircision uses infrared light to send data.
The research results were presented earlier this month at the Optical Fiber Communications (OFC) Conference 2025 in the American city of San Francisco.