EU funds new fibre optic cable, breaking speed records

Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands and the University of Central Florida (CREOL) in the USA have successfully transmitted of a new record speed of data transfer over a new type of fibre optic cable.

If rolled out, the new high of 255 Tbps would allow 21 times more bandwidth than currently available in communication networks. Scientists say this new type of fibre could be an answer to mitigating the impending optical transmission capacity problems caused by the increasing bandwidth demand.

The new fibre has seven different cores through which the light can travel, instead of one in current leading fibres. The new cable also introduces two additional orthogonal dimensions for data transportation. Combining those two methods, the speed achieved is more than 20 times the current standard of 4-8 Tbps.

Speaking about the project, co-leader Dr Chigo Okonkwo of TU/e said: “At less than 200 microns in diameter, this fibre does not take noticeably more space than conventional fibres already deployed. These remarkable results, supported by the FP7 MODEGAP project, definitely give the possibility to achieve Petabits/s transmission, which is the focus of the European Commission in Horizon 2020. The result also shows the key importance of the research carried out in Europe, and in particular at TU/e with other well-known teams around the world in high-capacity optical transmission systems.”

The results of the breakthrough are published in the journal Nature Photonics.