5G is the fifth-generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks. 5G is significantly faster than 4G, delivering up to 20 Gigabits-per-second (Gbps) peak data rates and 100+ Megabits-per-second (Mbps) average data rates. All 5G wireless devices in a cell are connected to the Internet and telephone network by radio waves through a local antenna in the cell. The 5G technology has also been an enabler to not only connect the routine devices like Laptops, Desktops, Tablets, and Mobiles; but also, internet of things (IoT) and machine to machine connections.
Recently, Japan’s National institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), has tested a record internet speed over Optical Fibre Connectivity with a data transfer speed of 319Tbps. The NICT researchers envision their next-gen fiber making technologies “beyond 5G” (like 6G) more practical. Earlier, the community has experimented on a similar environment in August 2020. In this a team of researchers from British and Japan had achieved a speed of 179Tbps.
In this new experiment the researchers had prepared a fiber optic line with four cores instead of one, and fired a 552-channel comb laser at multiple wavelengths with the assistance of rare earth amplifiers. This test was conducted at a lab environment using coiled fiber to transfer data at a simulated 1,864-mile distance without losing signal quality or speed.
The Commercialisation, of this experiment may take time, but the capability that has been achieved is well within a realistic roll-out. This principle of accommodating four core within the same pipe, may be costly; but it is more likely that we will see its initial use with internet backbones and other major networking projects where capacity matters more than cost.