World Internet speed record erased by engineers in Japan

(Photo: Denny Müller / Unsplash)

Most of us are happy to have a reliable internet connection fast enough to stream videos and play online multiplayer games. However, engineers are still trying to push the limits and a team in Japan did just that, nearly doubling the world internet speed record in the process.

As Tom’s Hardware reports, a team of engineers from the National Institute of Information and Communication Technologies (NICT) erased the old world record for Internet speed of 178 terabits per second (Tb / s) . They managed to reach 319Tb / s, while maintaining very high speed over a long distance. There was no drop in speed over 3,001 km, or approximately 1,865 miles.

Of course, such a high speed does not go without introducing some innovative engineering elements. The cable used was a quad core optical fiber using “552 PDM-16QAM, wavelength multiplexed channels”. Engineers also took advantage of “erbium and thulium doped fiber amplifiers and distributed Raman amplification.” I don’t mind admitting that it doesn’t make much sense to me, but I’m just happy that we continue to find ways to dramatically increase speed to help meet future demand.

The huge increase in speed is also due to the fact that the engineering team first used S, C and L band transmission. Typically, C and L bands are used for long transmission. distance, but this time the S-band was also used. The other good news is that quad-core optical fiber works with existing equipment, which should make it easier and cheaper to deploy.

The NTIC team has not yet finished. They believe there is more speed to be found and further increases in available transmission capacity. Work will also be carried out “to extend the transmission range to transoceanic distances”.