Innovation boosts the speeds of fiber optic and copper Ethernet connections

Revolutionary fiber-optic cables
Extreme Tech reports that another data speed limitation has been defeated, this time over fiber-optic cables. Scientists at the Technical University of Denmark have developed a method to send data at record speeds of 43 terabytes per second.

Previous attempts to boost fiber-optic cable transfer speeds have been achieved by bundling multiple signals over multiple fibers. However, this technique showed limited potential for standard application. The approach introduced by the DTU's research team instead utilizes a single laser over a single, multi-core fiber. DTU smartly arranged the multi-core fiber, so several independent signals can be sent across a single fiber-optic cable without fear of crosstalk.

Extreme Tech notes that DTU's fiber-optic solution will not be available for consumers for some time. Thankfully, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is hard at work developing a 1 Tbps connection for mass standardization. This new standard too will inevitably be surpassed as engineers develop new multi-terabyte solutions in the lab.

Perle has an extensive range of Managed and Unmanaged Fiber Media Converters to extend copper-based Ethernet equipment over a fiber optic link, multimode to multimode and multimode to single mode fiber up to 160 km.