The feat of the fastest internet speed in the world has been achieved by the researchers at the University College of London. The team has created a world record for achieving the fastest internet in the world. Accordingly, the speed of internet researched by the winning team is 178 terabytes per second or 178,000 GB per second.
The research was successfully conducted by the Royal Academy of Engineering Researcher Dr. Lidia Galdino in association with Xtera and Kiddi Research. Here are details about how the team achieved this milestone.
With this speed, the entire content of Netflix, ranging from films to series to programs in various languages and genres can be downloaded within one second. However, the technology has just been found and is not available in the market yet. The record of having the fastest internet was previously held by Australia with a speed of 44.2 Tbps.
Magic of Amplifier Technologies
Reports claim that the team achieved 178 TB per second speed by using a much wider range of colors than normally used in optical fiber. They combined various amplifier technologies and used the properties of light that transmitted the data to the best of their abilities. This made it possible for them to specifically manipulate each individual wavelength.
The team is also of the opinion that it is feasible to use the technology on the infrastructure that is already in use. They also say that it is reasonable and cost-effective. Accordingly, the amplifiers used on optical fiber routes must be upgraded. Reports claim that adding new amplifiers will cost around $20,943 whereas installing new fibers will cost $589,027 per kilometer.
Currently, the infrastructure in use has a commercial bandwidth of 4.5THz and 9THz, which is considered the most advanced feature. But the bandwidth used by the researchers in London is 16.8THz that allowed them to achieve the 178 terabytes per second speed.
Cost-Effective Finding
Dr Galdino of the research team said in a statement that the research focused on achieving the feat with lower costs while meeting future data rate demands. "The development of new technologies is crucial to maintaining this trend towards lower costs while meeting future data rate demands that will continue to increase, with as yet unthought-of applications that will transform people's lives," Dr. Galdino said.
She explained the reason behind this particular research. "Independent of the COVID-19 crisis, internet traffic has increased exponentially over the last 10 years and this whole growth in data demand is related to the cost per bit going down," she said.
