China Achieves 2.5Pb/s Real-Time Bidirectional Optical Transmission, Setting New Global Record

en.Wedoany.com Report, On March 24th, China's optical communication technology and network national key laboratory under China Information and Communication Technologies Group Corporation (CICT), in collaboration with Peng Cheng Laboratory and FiberHome Fujikura Fiber Optic Technology Co., Ltd., achieved a major technological breakthrough in the field of ultra-large-capacity real-time optical transmission. For the first time, they realized a real-time bidirectional transmission capacity of 2.5 petabits per second (Pb/s) over a 10.3-kilometer 24-core single-mode fiber. This marks another critical breakthrough for China in the direction of "ultra-large capacity, ultra-high speed, and ultra-long distance" optical transmission, refreshing the global record for real-time optical communication transmission capacity.

This breakthrough achieved core technological innovations in three major aspects. First is the record-breaking Pb/s-level real-time bidirectional transmission capability. The research team completed 2.5Pb/s real-time bidirectional transmission covering the S+C+L three-wave bands over a 10.3km 24-core single-mode fiber, with a total spectral bandwidth of 19.65 terahertz. By jointly multiplexing 262 wavelength channels and 24 fiber core channels, they constructed 6,288 parallel transmission channels, technically validating the feasibility of ultra-large-scale space-wavelength joint expansion. This capacity means it can transmit data equivalent to millions of high-definition movies per second, providing foundational technical support for future ultra-large-scale data center interconnects and AI computing power clusters.

Second is the development of a highly deployable commercialized technical solution. Unlike traditional lab verifications, this system employs self-developed commercial S+C+L band integrated 400G coherent optical modules, achieving real-time transmission based on 64GBaud PDM-16QAM, significantly enhancing the engineering feasibility of full-band optical transmission. Using commercial-grade modules for real-time transmission verification gives this technology the foundation for conversion to actual network deployment, providing a referenceable technical path for future fiber optic communication network upgrades.

Third is the innovative multi-core fiber bidirectional transmission architecture. By optimizing the inter-core allocation mechanism, the research team effectively suppressed the common inter-core crosstalk issue in multi-core fibers, enabling stable operation of the 24-core fiber without the need for complex MIMO equalization processing. This significantly reduces system complexity and deployment costs. This design approach helps propel multi-core fiber technology from the laboratory towards large-scale commercial application.

With the explosive growth in bandwidth demand from AI large model training, cloud computing, and data center interconnects, the transmission capacity of optical communication networks is becoming a key bottleneck in digital infrastructure. The achievement of this 2.5Pb/s real-time bidirectional transmission signifies that China has reached an internationally leading level in the field of ultra-large-capacity optical transmission. CICT stated that this achievement will provide key technology reserves for next-generation optical communication networks, computing power interconnects, and 6G transmission scenarios, among others.