New record for fibre-optic data transmission: 57 Gbps
University of Illinois engineers led by professor Milton Feng developed fibre-optic technology that can transmit data at 57 gigabits per second, without errors, at room temperature, thanks to advances in oxide-VCSEL technology (Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser).
Feng’s team also broke the previous record of 40 Gbps.
As big data has gotten bigger, and with the rising popularity of VR and 4K, the need has grown for a high-speed data transmission infrastructure that can accommodate the ever-growing volume of bits transferred from one place to another, without ISPs fearing for that to happen.
“That’s why data centers are refrigerated and have cooling systems,” Feng said. “For data centers and for commercial use, you’d like a device not to carry a refrigerator. The device needs to be operational from room temperature all the way up to 85 degrees without spending energy and resources on cooling.”