Faster fibre optic cable offers new era in data transmission
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands and the University of Central Florida (CREOL) in the USA have been working together under the MODE-GAP project to find a way of surmounting the optical transmission capacity problems caused by the demands of our connected society. They have succeeded in setting a record in the speed of data transmission using a fibre optic cable offering 21 times the bandwidth and 20 times the speed currently available. If the fibre optic cable developed by MODE-GAP, an EU FP7 funded collaborative R&D project, is rolled out it will transmit at the speed of 255 terabits per second (Tbps) over one kilometre. The current standard is 4-8 Tbps. The impact of this development could be felt in our daily lives as the popularity of internet services and the emergence of capacity-hungry data centres means our demand for bandwidth will grow exponentially. One area of focus of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Programme is to achieve Petrabits per second transmission in a bid to avoid capacity crunch – the MODE-GAP project brings us one step closer to achieving this goal. One option to increase the transmission of more information through current optical glass fibres is to increase the power of the signals so as to overcome the losses inherent in the use of the glass used in the making of the cables. But increasing the power can limit the amount of information that can be recovered after transmission over the standard fibre. The new fibre has seven different cores through which the light can travel, instead of one in current leading fibres and introduces two additional orthogonal dimensions for data transportation. The team at TU/e and CREOL, led by Dr Chigo Okonkwo, an Assistant Professor in the Electro-Optical Communications (ECO) research group and Dr Rodrigo Amezcua Correa, a Research Assistant Professor in Micro-structured fibres at CREOL, have shown that their new class of fibre can increase transmission capacity. As Dr Chigo Okonkwo explains, the 200 micron diameter of the multicore fibre means it is close to conventional fibres now deployed and takes up even less space. The project is not resting on its laurels: its stated aim is to target a 100 fold enhancement of overall capacity and put Europe in the lead when it comes to developing the next generation internet infrastructure. MODE-GAP, which is coordinated by University of Southampton in the UK, maintains radical approaches will be needed to avoid grid-lock on the internet. It is developing multi-mode photonic band gap, long-haul transmission, fibres and associated enabling technologies to find a way of realising the project’s goal. MODE-GAP brings together nine institutions from five European countries to work towards this, along with international partners in China and the USA. For further information please visit: MODE-GAP http://modegap.eu/(opens in new window)
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