Chinese Team Achieves 3.2 Petabits/Second Optical Fiber Transfer Speed Record

New Optical Fiber Speed Record

A Chinese team, comprising the National Key Laboratory of Optical Communication Technology, Network of China Information and Communication Technologies Group, Pengcheng Laboratory, and Fiberhome Fujikura Fiber Optic Technology Co., Ltd., has established a new world record for real-time data transfer over 24-core optical fiber. The achieved speed was 3.2 petabits per second (Pb/s).

Significant Performance Improvement

This new record surpasses the team's previous record of 2.5 Pb/s set earlier this year, marking an almost 30% performance increase within a year. The speed is equivalent to downloading over 20,000 4K movies in one second or providing gigabit broadband to 3.2 million households simultaneously.

Technical Achievements

The record was achieved through the successful implementation of spatial division multiplexing and S+C+L multi-band transmission technology. Researchers addressed challenges such as crosstalk interference and managing varying specifications across the S+C+L transmission bands.

Practical Application Potential

The 3.2 Pb/s transmission was demonstrated using commercially compliant hardware architectures in real-time. This indicates that the technology has the potential for practical deployment in the future, distinguishing it from purely academic lab results that often rely on experimental equipment and signal processing, which have reached speeds up to 5.29 Pb/s.