Chinese team reports 3.2 petabits per second real-time transfer over optical fiber
The result builds on an earlier 2.5 Pb/s record set this year, and the team says it used commercially compliant hardware.
A Chinese team has reported a real-time optical fiber transmission rate of 3.2 petabits per second over 24-core fiber, up from the 2.5 Pb/s it recorded earlier in the year, a gain of roughly 30 percent within a year. The collaborators are the National Key Laboratory of Optical Communication Technology, China Information and Communication Technologies Group's network arm, Pengcheng Laboratory and Fiberhome Fujikura Fiber Optic Technology, and the figure comes via a Hubei provincial government website. The result rests on spatial division multiplexing combined with S+C+L multi-band transmission, with crosstalk and the differing requirements of the S+C+L bands named as the main obstacles. The test reportedly used commercially compliant hardware, which the outlet suggests makes practical deployment plausible. The source says rollout could let 3.2 million households each enjoy gigabit broadband, though that is framed as a conditional outcome. Lab records of up to 5.29 Pb/s on similar fiber exist, but those often depend on experimental signal processing and specialised equipment.
Why it matters
The gain from 2.5 to 3.2 Pb/s within a year shows steady progress in how much data a single optical fiber can carry in real time. Because the test used commercially compliant hardware rather than only laboratory equipment, it narrows the gap between research results and equipment that could be deployed. The source suggests this could eventually let 3.2 million households each enjoy gigabit broadband, but that remains a conditional outcome that depends on rollout.
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