Using an optical processor to operate in the E- and S-band ranges, UK researchers hit a transfer rate of 301 terabits per second.

Researchers unlock fiber optic connection 1.2 million times faster than broadband

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2024-04-02 15:30:06

Using an optical processor to operate in the E- and S-band ranges, UK researchers hit a transfer rate of 301 terabits per second.

By Andrew Paul | Published Mar 29, 2024 4:35 PM EDT

In the average American house, any download rate above roughly 242 Mbs is considered a solidly speedy broadband internet connection. That’s pretty decent, but across the Atlantic, researchers at UK’s Aston University recently managed to coax about 1.2 million times that rate using a single fiber optic cable—a new record for specific wavelength bands.

As spotted earlier today by Gizmodo, the international team achieved a data transfer rate of 301 terabits, or 301,000,000 megabits per second by accessing new wavelength bands normally unreachable in existing optical fibers—the tiny, hollow glass strands that carry data through beams of light. According to Aston University’s recent profile, you can think of these different wavelength bands as different colors of light shooting through a (largely) standard cable.

Commercially available fiber cabling utilizes what are known as C- and L-bands to transmit data. By constructing a device called an optical processor, however, researchers could access the never-before-used E- and S-bands.