The research team from Monash, Swinburne and RMIT universities were able to achieve a data speed of 44.2 Tbps from a single light source. Described in the journal Nature Communications, this technology has the capacity to support the high-speed internet connections of 1.8 million households in Melbourne at the same time, and billions across the world during peak periods. Demonstrations of this magnitude are usually confined to a laboratory. But for this study, researchers achieved these quick speeds using existing communications infrastructure where they were able to efficiently load-test the network. They used a new device that replaces 80 lasers with one single piece of equipment known as a micro-comb, which is smaller and lighter than existing telecommunications hardware. It was planted into and load-tested using existing infrastructure, which mirrors that used by the nbn. It is said to be the first time any micro-comb has been used in a field trial and possesses the highest amount of data produced from a single optical chip.
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