The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s computer science engineers have made an unprecedented leap into the future of fiber-optic speeds. The university said that their engineers successfully reached 57 gigabits per second error free on a network of fiber optic technology. According to BGR, it is a new record in the industry.
The team effort was led by Professor Milton Feng who was also in charge in 2014 when the team broke through the 40gbps mark. Feng said, “There is a lot of data out there, but if your data transmission is not fast enough, you cannot use data that’s been collected; you cannot use upcoming technologies that use large data streams. like virtual reality. The direction toward fiber-optic communication is going to increase because there’s a higher speed data rate, especially over distance.”
Therefore, these kinds of breakthroughs have far-reaching benefits for the future of IoT devices and – as Feng has pointed out – speedier access to future and current virtual reality networks. The only problem is extensive cooling for far-range fiber, the current research is only currently useful for short-range fiber, according to Engadget.
The issue with running break-neck speeds on fiber-optic networks is the heat that comes with it. The team was running the 57gbps at 185 Fahrenheit (85 degrees celsius). “That’s why data centers are refrigerated and have cooling systems,” Feng said.