Researchers send data over fibre connection at 1.125 terabits a second

British researchers have developed a method of increasing broadband speeds to around 50,000 times faster than the average UK fibre connection currently allows.

A team from University College London’s (UCL) Optical Networks Group was able to send data at 1.125 terabits a second over a fibre connection. It’s the fastest recorded data speed on a single connection to date and would equate to an HD episode of Game of Thrones being downloaded in less than one second.

Research head, Dr Robert Maher, said: “We are working with sophisticated equipment in our lab to design the next generation core networking and communications systems that can handle data signals at rates in excess of one terabit per second.

“For comparison, this is almost 50,000 times greater than the average speed of a UK broadband connection of 24Mbps, which is the current speed defining ‘superfast’ broadband.”

The team’s technique involved used coding methods used for wireless communications to compress the data that was being sent. UCL said that the research showed the possibilities of optical fibre when different methods were used in the "quest to reach ever higher transmission capacities".

The research was published in online journal Scientific Reports and is part of a programme investigating how fibre optic networks can be improved as part of the growing need for faster internet communications and for use with the 'Internet of Things'. The team is now looking at what data rates can be achieved over longer distances.

UCL’s Professor Polina Bayvel commented: “This result is a milestone as it shows that terabit per second optical communications systems are possible in the optical fibres that carry the vast majority of all data generated or received.”

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(Image: Kings Sutton)