TVB Tech Alert: Data Transmission Speed Record Broken

MURRAY HILL, N.J.:Researchers at Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Labs division have set a new record for optical data transmission. The lab moved data at 100 petabits per second per kilometer, reports indicate. Internet News said 155 lasers were used to transmit the data over 7,000 kilometers, roughly equal to the distance between Chicago and Paris.

The data was sent over an optical network with repeaters placed every 90 kilometers--said to be 20 percent further apart than those in typical networks. Researchers used a type of optical technology called “coherent detection” that creates greater capacity by allowing more light in a single fiber.

The 100 pbps per kilometer speed was said to be twice as fast as Bell’s previous record.