Team achieves one terabit per second data rate on a single integrated photonic chip
I know- you are saying “What’s the big deal?” … this will enable fiber networks to transfer a heck of lot more data faster, cheaper, better. Eventually broadband long haul costs will drop, perhaps even here in the US.
This chip does the work of a whole piece of equipment that’s currently pretty expensive.
With worldwide Internet data traffic increasing by 50 percent each year, telecommunications companies that handle this digital torrent must be able to economically expand the capacities of their networks while also adapting to new, more-efficient data-handling technologies.
Over the last decade, a development team at Infinera Corp. in Sunnyvale, Calif. has pioneered the design and manufacture of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) aimed at meeting that need. This technology has enabled the team to achieve a record one trillion bits per second (1 Terabit/s) speed on a single integrated indium phosphide chip. The findings will be presented at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC) taking place March 6 – 10 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.