How Japan broke the Internet speed record!

The world stood still as Japanese engineers took the chance at breaking the internet speed record. The communications and technology institute successfully achieved a data transfer at the impressive 319 terabits per second. The record stands as twice the speed of the previous record, which was 178 terabits per second. That record was set less than a year ago. And that record also supersedes the previous one of 44.2 terabits per second, seven times faster. The previous record was set on a photonic chip. This one happened over lights. The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) engineers set this record as a challenge to beat last August's attempt at internet speed. The achievement has now been published in the International Conference on Optical Fiber Communication as a research paper. The conference published that the feat of 319 terabits per second (Tb/s) was transferred over some 3,000 kilometers. The research paper also gave insights into the process. The new technology used four-core optical fiber of a standard outer diameter of 0.125 mm to transfer the data.

The transfer happened over light and not cable. The scientists and engineers used a 552-channel laser that uses various wavelengths this time. The set-up was made of recirculating transmission loop that made use of two rare-earth-doped fiber amplifiers. The specialized amplifiers are what gave the range and speed an extra boost on the internet. The speed we are talking about could be interpreted as downloading 7,000 high-definition movies in a second. The engineers recorded this super-fast data transfer without a drop in performance of the internet across the 3000 kilometers distance. Shifting data over such speed is still not available to the ordinary consumer, but if it were, that would make the internet untouchable. The main reason being that upgrading to this new format would be very expensive.

The kind that the ordinary person could not afford. The cables for passing data were doubled four times. The experiment upgraded the fiber optic line with four cores over the single-core lines to improve efficiency and travel faster. However, the team is optimistic that the speed could be achieved on the existing fiber optics and infrastructure. They are optimistic that the broadband optical fiber cables we use in our Wi-Fi at home could eventually support this technology with few modifications. The specialized technology needs to be enhanced and restructured for the home and business. The infrastructure is still within the confines of Japan, but the team is looking at expansion across the ocean. The future data transfer speed could get to trans-oceanic distances.

The extensions will begin soon as the national level of speed enhancement takes off. The future of communication systems is exciting. The research and its acclaimed success mean that it can finally support the bandwidth-hungry world and services required. The world needs the internet now more than ever. As we have realized the importance of quality high-speed internet, we need to find more ways to make it accessible to all. The economies of the world rely on connectivity now. Any part of the world that is not getting high-speed internet is racing against the times. Industries like healthcare, commerce, entertainment, education have all turned their attention to achieving the best out of the internet. If you live in a big city, you would understand the importance of fast internet.

So many people who live in the same city might be sharing the same internet that makes it almost slow. Remember all the times you have gone to a rave and missed your friends due to the crowd but couldn't get a hold of them because the internet crashed? Well, we do too, so imagine the internet was so fast that you didn't have to worry about too many people on it at once. So instead of enough speed to stream Netflix and watch your favorite YouTube channel anywhere in the world and be satisfied, these engineers think you should get the fastest internet ever because fast is not good enough. That is why it is such a big deal whenever there are new strides in the broadband space. The world is always looking at advancements, and countries always want to take the lead in something.

It is exciting news that Japan has proven again why they are a tech giant among their counterparts. There are university laboratories worldwide that are looking at ways to achieve this all the time. Many pieces of research are going into the speed increment on the internet, and it seems that the Japanese institute has struck gold. It wasn't long ago when states like Virginia, California, and Connecticut invested in universal broadband for their states. The internet as we know it today is as necessary infrastructure as roads and railways. The speedier the internet around you, the more business can be done, and investors would be willing to move into your state or country. Virginia started a $700 million project to connect its rural citizens to 300 mph internet. California has also started working on the bill for a $6 billion connectivity project. So even with the average internet speed, we have currently, so many people are left out. This super-fast internet that connects over light and not cable can reach a lot of people more easily. If you were wondering what this new speed could be used for besides downloading 7,000 high-definition movies, then here is what other things you could be looking at. Okay, maybe we should stay on movies a bit more. Netflix has about 3,781 movies in its library. The 319 terabits mean that you can download all of them in one second and still have the speed to download other things. Do you believe the import of this statement? Every movie on Netflix can be downloaded at once and in less than a second. The sound excites me as much as it should, but there are other important reasons for the experiment. The engineers developed this high-speed technology for transferring vast amounts of data across long distances.

That is looking at more government agencies and departments sharing information with their allies across the board. Since it is 10 million times faster than the home internet we use, it might come in handy for vital information on national security issues. The technology could also be used in long-range industrial data transmission like space exploration data exchanges. The terrestrial explorations demand fast and instant exchanges. The current rover that the Chinese space exploration team sent into space receives and sends back information in seven minutes. So that the scientists at the base have to wait seven minutes after sending commands to see that the rover understands and then obeys; with internet speed like this, the space teams can receive instant feedback from their robots and cameras. This high speed and vast data would tremendously increase the mission's advances in space tourism and research on Mars.