Imagine downloading 1000 HD, or high definition, movies in a split second.
Researchers from Monash, Swinburne and RMIT universities have done exactly that. They have successfully tested and recorded Australia’s fastest internet data speed, and that of the world–from a single optical chip.
This technology has the capacity to support the high-speed internet connections of 1.8 million households in Melbourne, Australia, at the same time, and billions across the world during peak periods.
Relevance as COVID-19 induces WFH
The researchers were able to achieve a data speed of 44.2 Terabits per second (Tbps) from a single light source. This is significant in light of the pressures being placed on the world’s internet infrastructure, as people work from home (WFH) to thwart COVID-19.
The team was led by Dr Bill Corcoran (Monash), Professor Arnan Mitchell (RMIT) and Professor David Moss, Director of the Optical Sciences Centre at Swinburne University, and co-inventor of micro-comb chips.
“This work represents a world-record for bandwidth down a single optical fibre from a single chip source, and represents an enormous breakthrough for part of the network which does the heaviest lifting. Micro-combs offer enormous promise for us to meet the world’s insatiable demand for bandwidth,” said Prof. Moss.
These findings have the potential to not only fast-track the next 25 years of Australia’s telecommunications capacity, but also the possibility for this home-grown technology to be rolled out across the world. The finding have been published in the journal Nature Communications.
Field trials
The researchers achieved these speeds using existing communications infrastructure where they were able to efficiently load-test the network.
They used a device that replaces 80 lasers with one single piece of equipment known as a micro-comb, which is smaller and lighter than existing telecommunications hardware. It was planted into and load-tested using existing infrastructure, which mirrors that used by the NBN.
It is the first time any micro-comb has been used in a field trial and possesses the highest amount of data produced from a single optical chip.
“We’re currently getting a sneak-peak of how the infrastructure for the internet will hold up in two to three years’ time, due to the unprecedented number of people using the internet for remote work, socialising and streaming.
“It’s really showing us that we need to be able to scale the capacity of our internet connections,” said Bill Corcoran, co-lead author of the study and Lecturer in Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering at Monash University.
The data, according to Corcoran, can not only be use for Netflix but also for self-driving cars and future transportation. Besides, it can help the “medicine, education, finance and e-commerce industries, as well as enable us to read with our grandchildren from kilometres away”.
How they did it
Researchers installed 76.6km of ‘dark’ optical fibres between RMIT’s Melbourne City Campus and Monash University’s Clayton Campus to illustrate the impact optical micro-combs have on optimising communication systems. The optical fibres were provided by Australia’s Academic Research Network.
Researchers placed the micro-comb within these fibres. The micro-combs were contributed by Swinburne University, as part of a broad international collaboration – which acts like a rainbow made up of hundreds of high quality infrared lasers from a single chip.
Each ‘laser’ has the capacity to be used as a separate communications channel.
Researchers were able to send maximum data down each channel, simulating peak internet usage, across 4THz of bandwidth.
Going forward
The ambition of the project is to scale up the current transmitters from hundreds of gigabytes per second towards tens of terabytes per second without increasing size, weight or cost.
Prof. Mitchell hopes they will be able to make integrated photonic chips that could enable this sort of data rate to be achieved across existing optical fibre links with minimal cost.
“Initially, these would be attractive for ultra-high speed communications between data centres. However, we could imagine this technology becoming sufficiently low cost and compact that it could be deployed for commercial use by the general public in cities across the world,” Professor Mitchell said.
