The National Institute of Information and Communication Technology (NICT) of Japan announced Monday, May 30 broke a data transfer speed record. This innovation, which is based on an improvement in fiber optic cables, could allow the large-scale democratization of video streaming in 8K resolution. Even if it has only been tested in the laboratory, it is based on technologies that already exist in current networks.
100,000 times faster than current home connections
Japanese NICT researchers have succeeded in sending data through a fiber optic cable with several “cores”. Concretely, their exploit is based on a cable which itself contains four smaller fiber optic pipes. These four “cores” each transmit a different signal, which amplifies the bandwidth. They achieved a speed of 1.02 petabits, or 1020 terabits, per second over a network spanning 51.7 kilometers.
End of the story between Kindle, Amazon’s e-reader, and China
This corresponds to a transfer of 127,500 GB of data every second which, according to the researchers, would make it possible to simultaneously broadcast 10 million video contents in 8K. New Atlas specifies that such a speed is 100,000 times greater than what internet service providers promise with new generation connections intended for individuals.
NICT explored several hypotheses, including multi-core fiber optic cables that could transmit fifteen signals. This type of device would require extremely costly improvements to already existing Internet networks. With the quad-core solution, the fiber optic cables maintain a standard dimension of 0.125 mm, which would facilitate their installation in current infrastructures.
Japan wants to be at the forefront
Japan is at the forefront of technological advances for the development of fiber optics. The previous speed record set by the Japanese archipelago was 319 terabits per second in July 2021. In less than a year, NICT researchers were able to triple the bandwidth capacities.
The Land of the Rising Sun also wants to be at the forefront of wireless connections, in part because many areas, like islands, cannot get wired. In April 2021, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga met with Joe Biden to set up cooperation in the development of 6G technology. A collaboration based on an investment of 4.5 billion dollars in order to compete with China, which wants to dominate 6G.