Deutsche Telekom set a new data transmission speed record. They set the record by pumping 512 Gigabits per second over 456 miles. DT used a single 100 GHz wavelength channel over optical fiber according to David Meyer at GigaOm. The Berlin-based T-Labs OSIRIS (Optically Supported IP Router Interfaces) research project sent 512 Gbps down each channel of a production network from Berlin to Hannover and back again. The usable data rate was 400 Gbps, overhead takes up the rest.
Since each fiber strand can carry up to 48 wavelengths in the case of the T-Labs system. T-Labs’ new tech should mean a staggering 24.6 Tbps (terabytes per second) max throughput for each optical fiber. “When using all of the channels of an optical fiber … the new process permits a throughput of up to 24.6 Tbit/s (24,600,000,000,000 bit/s) to be attained on the maximum of 48 available channels,” T-Labs Manager Heinrich Arnold told TechWeek Europe. GigaOm says that “a collection of 3,696 CDs could thus be transferred over a single optical fiber at the same time” using the new technique.
T-Labs says existing networks don’t need cable replacements to take advantage of the new speeds The firm achieved the new bandwidth record by using new technologies developed with Alcatel-Lucent (ALU). The new AlcaLu gear was installed in the terminal stations at either end of the fiber.
The BBC says that much of the speed gain came through improvements to the software used for forward error correction (FEC). TechWeek Europe says DT also used other creative transmission technologies. They used two carrier frequencies, two polarization planes, 16-QAM quadrature amplitude modulation. “You can imagine it as squeezing and tilting the entire set-up around to get more capacity out,” Mr. Arnold told the BBC.
But there are still an awful lot of copper-based networks in existence, The high value of copper makes copper-based networks vulnerable to copper theft. Also, despite advances in Copper such as ADSL2+ and VDSL2 (which I wrote about here and here) fiber is a much more “future proof” material.
rb-
Ronnie thumbs up for high-speed data
Do the screaming hot network happy dance, the usable per-channel bit-rate is 400 Gbps, 4x the maximum bit-rate in today’s 100 Gbps per channel state-of-the-art networks, which is a huge capacity boost. This is more than double the 186 Gbps record set by researchers in the US and Canada last year (Which I wrote about here). This tech will most likely be deployed by the Telco’s and Cableco’s who need to support an FTTx strategy, it’s gonna be a long time until these speeds reach most enterprises.
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- Standard optical fiber transmits 1.7Tbps over core network (arstechnica.com)
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.