How Fast Is the World’s Fastest Internet?
A team of researchers have successfully experimented and recorded the fastest internet speed ever recorded. The researchers, including Bill Corcoran from Monash University in Australia, recorded this speed from the single optical chip.
According to the study, published in the journal Nature Communications, the speed of the internet was 44.2 Terabits per second (Tbps). It is said that it is capable of downloading 1000 High-Definition (HD) movies in a split of a second.
This breakthrough in technology will surely help scale up the potential of network connections across the world. The innovation of this scale can have a massive impact on the whole world. Countries struggling with demand on internet infrastructure could take the huge advantage of this.
How They Achieved This Milestone
When the whole world was in the state of the panic due to the pandemic, the research team led by Dr Bill Corcoran (Monash), Distinguished Professor Arnan Mitchell (RMIT) and Professor David Moss (Swinburne) in Australia achieved something world-breaking.
For achieving this, they had to do several tries with several technologies and devices. They stated that the technology they used was a device that replaces around 80 lasers found in existing telecoms hardware, with a single bit of equipment known as a ‘micro-comb’. According to Arnan Mitchel, a co-author of the study from RMIT University in Australia, these devices were for ultra-high-speed communications between data centres.
This fast speed is undoubtedly absurd for any reasonable consumer in today’s world. Acknowledging this, Bill Corcoran, lecturer in electrical and computer systems at Monash University, said, it could ultimately help transform a wide variety of industries — as modern life continues to put escalating pressure on bandwidth infrastructure.
On what can be the use of fast internet connections in the future, Corcoran said, “it’s not just Netflix we’re talking about here — it’s the broader scale of what we use our communication networks for”. He then also added, “the data can be used for self-driving cars and future transportation, and it can help the medicine, education, finance and e-commerce industries, as well”.
“We’re currently getting a sneak-peak of how the infrastructure for the internet will hold up in two to three years, due to the unprecedented number of people using the internet for remote work, socialising and streaming. It’s showing us that we need to be able to scale the capacity of our internet connections,” said Dr Bill Corcoran, co-lead author of the study and Lecturer in Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering at Monash University.
Demonstration of this sort is usually taken place in a confined laboratory. However, researchers achieved these quick speeds using existing communications infrastructure where they were able to efficiently load-test the network. The transmission test was taken place on 76.6 kilometres of optical fibres between RMIT’s Melbourne City Campus and Monash University’s Clayton Campus.
Researchers sent maximum data down each channel, which ultimately simulated peak internet usage, across 4THz of bandwidth. Researchers estimate that this technology can support the high-speed internet connections of 1.8 million families in Melbourne, Australia, at the same time, and billions across the world during peak periods.
It is fascinating to see such a significant breakthrough in technology which can bring a substantial change in the world. I am excited to see what other things future have stored for us.
