The new world download speed record is simply amazing

The Internet download speed record has been broken. Thanks to new optical fibers integrating over a hundred transmissions, this Internet connection is capable of supporting more than 20 times the current global Internet traffic. This would dramatically improve local speeds for all internet users.

What is your internet connection at home? At worst, you have a connection ADSL or 4G. The speed is very good for browsing (or even watching videos in HD). But these two technologies do not always provide good stability. At best, you have a fiber optic connection. Download speeds then go up to 2 Gbps at Bouygues Telecomuntil 5 GB/s at Orange And even 8GB/s SFR and free. For more details, look for our comparison of the best fiber optic boxes. Internationally, this could go up a bit.

Also Read – The world’s fastest internet connection now boasts a whopping speed of 46TB/s

Of course, these are theoretical flow rates. In fact, subscribers often have fiber that delivers a few hundred Mbit/s to limit the impact on the network and make room for everyone. For everyone to be able to access web content in a fraction of a second, this will be necessary Improving infrastructure. This partly involves a new generation of optical fibers capable of supporting more than a hundred parallel streams.

Optical fiber breaks world download speed record

The Japanese institute NICT (National Institute for Information and Communications Technology) is working on this new generation fiber. Last October, its researchers were able to achieve a flow rate of 22.9 petabits per second. Knowing that 1 petabit is equivalent to 1000 terabit or 1 million gigabit. It is clear that this is a new world record, knowing that the last record was held by researchers from the same institute. In March 2020, it reached 10.66 petabits per second. For comparison, global Internet traffic is slightly higher than 1 petabit per second.

Their secret? The very nature of the cable. Commonly used optical fibers have 4 strands for four simultaneous transmissions. The best fibers of this type support a flow rate of 1.02 petabit per second over several tens of kilometers. Researchers use NICT Fiber contains 38 strands. Each strand supports three transmission modes, thus doubling the number of broadcast channels. The result: These cables are capable of managing 114 connections simultaneously. Hence the supported flow. The researchers also claim that the system can be optimized to capture a few extra petabits per second.

Not all is well with this new cable. Firstly, the transmission distance is much less, The distance ranges from about fifty kilometers to 13 kilometers. Obviously, manufacturing costs will be higher. But this technology will make it possible to significantly increase the speed available to every Internet user. Especially since the number of connected products per capita is increasing every year (smartphone, watch, tablet, PC, car, home automation, etc.). Therefore, we will increasingly need better bandwidth to avoid any slowdowns. Without forgetting Data-intensive generative AI models. Research in the field of optical fibers will help meet this demand.

source : Nick