Amazing! China has achieved Pb/s-level optical transmission, enabling nearly 30 billion people to communicate simultaneously over a single fiber optic cable

Researchers in China have for the first time carried out experiments with an optical transmission system that utilizes 1.06 Pbit/s of ultra-high capacity through wavelength division multiplexing and spatial division multiplexing; this system enables nearly 30 billion people to communicate simultaneously over a single fiber optic cable. This achievement marks a new milestone for China in the research of optical communication systems featuring \"ultra-high capacity, ultra-long distances, and ultra-high speeds\". According to the People’s Daily app, breakthrough progress has been made again in China’s optical communication technology. Reporters recently learned from China Information and Communication Technology Group that researchers have, for the first time in the country, carried out experiments with an optical transmission system that utilizes 1.06 Pbit/s of ultra-high capacity through wavelength division multiplexing and spatial division multiplexing. This system enables nearly 30 billion people to communicate simultaneously over a single fiber optic cable, marking a new milestone for China in the research of optical communication systems featuring ultra-high capacity, long distances, and high speeds.

It is reported that the transmission medium used in this experiment is a special single-mode 19-core fiber optic cable, developed independently in China. Compared with previous single-mode 7-core fibers, it has a significantly enhanced transmission capacity; its transmission capacity is 10 times that of current commercial single-mode fiber transmission systems, allowing it to transfer the data stored on approximately 130 1TB hard drives within 1 second. Compared to the 560 Tb/s optical transmission system experiment conducted in 2017, the capacity has almost doubled. In terms of materials, the chips used in this experiment are silicon-based chips developed independently in China, rather than traditional group III-V material chips. The system equipment generated 375 optical carriers in the C+L band, and utilized silicon-photonics coherent transceiver chips to achieve the transmission and reception of 178.18 Gbit/s DFTs-PDM-16QAM signal light within a 25 GHz channel. Optical transmission testing was conducted over a single-mode 19-fiber cable, with a spectral efficiency of 113 bit/s/Hz and a total transmission capacity of 1.06 Pbit/s; this marked the first breakthrough from the “Tb/s level” to the “Pb/s level”.

According to Dr. He Zhixue from the **Key Laboratory of Optical Fiber Communication Technology and Networks, the explosive growth in data communication is placing tremendous pressure on existing infrastructure networks. Ultra-high-speed optical transmission will help alleviate the pressure on data transmission, preparing us well for the arrival of the 5G era.

It can transfer the data stored in approximately 130 1TB hard drives within 1 second. Compared to the 560 Tb/s optical transmission system experiment conducted in 2017, the capacity has almost doubled.