A world record in serial data transmission via fiber optics – 10.2 Tb/s or an astonishing 240 DVDs per second

In a new world premier, members of Berlin’s Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute in collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen have succeeded in generating a serial data rate of 10.2 Terabit per second and transmitting it over a 29 km long fiber optic link. This breakthrough was achieved by an even more rapid and comprehensive modulation of the light signal transported in the fiber optic cable on a single optical carrier or wavelength. This new record puts the previous world record held by the Heinrich Hertz Institute of 2.65 Terabit per second clearly in the shade. On March 10th , 2011, the Fraunhofer HHI scientists will be presenting their new record for the first time to audiences at the Optical Fiber Communications Conference (OFC 2011) in Los Angeles.

Fraunhofer HHI’s new record is based on two innovations. On the one hand, the data transmission pulse repetition rate is increased by switching on and off the flashes transmitting the data in the fiber optic cable much more rapidly and with shorter breaks than ever before. In other words, every 800 femoseconds researchers sent an optical pulse of just 300 femoseconds pulse duration down the optical cable, giving a pulse repetition rate of 1.28 THz – with 32 times more repetition than in commercial 40 Gbit/s transmission systems. This means that data can be time-interleaved with very high density. On the other hand, researchers increased the amount of information transmitted in each flash by modulating not just the amplitude but the optical phase of the electromagnetic light wave as well. 16-QAM modulation, used for the first time on such an ultra-rapid sequence of optical pulses, enabled coding of 4 bits per pulse which means that an extra four times as much information could be transmitted than with commercial systems.

In today’s information and communication age, fiber optical networks are the basis for modern high capacity data and communication transmission systems. Weathering all economic recessions, traffic in telecommunications networks increases steadily by over 50% each year. To meet such relentless demand, it is vital to increase the capacity of fiber optical networks and to make better use of fiber optical links if we are going to enable future transmission of modern services and high resolution video. The technology used in the world record experiment was developed by Fraunhofer HHI in the “Optical Technologies” program (13N9356) funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Scientists at Fraunhofer HHI will be making the first public presentation of their work on 10 March 2011 at the Optical Fiber Communications Conference (OFC 2011) in Los Angeles. The OFC is the world’s largest global conference on optical communications technology and attracts over 9,000 attendees each year.

The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute is a global leader in the development of mobile and fixed broadband communication networks and multimedia systems. From photonic components and systems and fiber optic sensor systems through to high-speed hardware architectures, the Heinrich Hertz Institute works together with international partners from research and enterprise and for global markets on developing the infrastructures for the future Gigabit Society. At the same time it also develops future applications for broadband networks. Key focal areas of research are 3D TV, 3D displays, HDTV, gesture-controlled human-machine interaction, image signal processing and transmission, and interactive use of media.

Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute
Einsteinufer 37
10587 Berlin
www.hhi.fraunhofer.de

Corporate Communication - Dr. Gudrun Quandel
Phone +49 30 31002 400
Mobile +49 (0)171 1995334

email gudrun.quandel@hhi.fraunhofer.de

This release was published on openPR.