29 May 2025
World Record Achieved in Transmission Capacity and Distance: With 19-core Optical Fiber with Standard Cladding Diameter 1,808 km Transmission of 1.02 Petabits per Second
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Sumitomo Electric System Solutions Co., Ltd.
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National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT; Head Office: Koganei-shi, Tokyo; President: Hideyuki Tokuda) have set a new world record* for long-distance high-capacity transmission in optical fiber communications, achieving data transmission at 1.02 petabits per second over a distance of 1,808 km (equivalent to the distance from Sapporo to Fukuoka, from Missouri to Montana, or from Berlin to Naples) using 19-core optical fiber with a standard 0.125 mm cladding diameter.
Research on new types of optical fibers and optical transmission systems that exceed the limits of conventional optical fiber transmission is being actively pursued around the world.
To date, Sumitomo Electric has developed a randomly coupled 4-core optical fiber, a randomly coupled 7-core optical fiber, and a randomly coupled 19-core optical fiber with a standard cladding diameter suitable for long-distance large-capacity transmission. In this demonstration, Sumitomo Electric was responsible for the design and manufacture of a coupled 19-core optical fiber that features a standard cladding diameter, achieving a reduction in optical fiber losses across multiple wavelength ranges (the C-band and the L-band) by optimizing the structure and arrangement of the cores. Meanwhile, NICT was responsible for building a transmission system that maximizes the performance of the fiber, as well as developing and demonstrating an optical amplification relay function capable of simultaneously amplifying signals from all 19 cores.
【Achievements】
The technology developed this time achieved a transmission capacity of 1.02 petabits per second over a distance of 1,808 km using a 19-core optical fiber with a standard cladding diameter of 0.125 mm. 1,808 km corresponds to the distance from Sapporo to Fukuoka, from Missouri to Montana, or from Berlin to Naples, and it has been demonstrated that the technology can be applied to a network connecting major cities inside or outside Japan. The results translate to a value of 1.86 exabits per second-km when converted to the commonly used metric of the “capacity-distance product,” setting a new world record for optical fibers with a standard cladding diameter. This technology is expected to make a significant contribution to both the expansion of the communication capacity and the long-range extension of optical communication infrastructure in the future, when communication demand increases.
The results of this demonstration were highly evaluated at the 48th Optical Fiber Communications Conference (OFC 2025, Venue: San Francisco, USA, March 30 (Sun) to April 3 (Thu), 2025), the largest international conference related to optical fiber communications, and accepted as the best hot topic paper (Postdeadline Paper), as announced on Thursday, April 3, 2025 (local time).
* As of the presentation at OFC2025 on April 3, 2025, this new record has broken the world record for “capacity-distance product” in a transmission demonstration using a standard cladding diameter optical fiber (according to a survey by NICT).
[References]
・ For explanations of terms and more detailed technical information regarding this matter, please refer to the NICT website.
・Sumitomo Electric’s press release
March 25, 2016
Sumitomo Electric Has Developed Coupled Multi-Core Optical Fiber Suitable for Ultra-Long-Haul Transmission
https://global-sei.com/company/press/2016/03/prs023.html
May 15, 2023
Sumitomo Electric and NICT Develop the World's First 19-core Optical Fiber with Standard Outer
Diameter and Set New World Record for Transmission Capacity ーAchieving key technology for beyond 5G long-distance optical communicationー
https://sumitomoelectric.com/press/2023/05/prs022
September 22, 2023
Sumitomo Electric Launches World’s First Mass-produced Ultra-low Loss, Multi-core Fiber
https://sumitomoelectric.com/press/2023/09/prs049