Fiberglass data transfer speed breakthrough: TU Eindhoven

Scientists have succeeded in sending the hitherto largest packet of information through fiberglass. "Compared to a regular fiberglass cable it is like going from a one lane road to a seven lane highway" says researcher Hugo de Waardt from the TU Eindhoven. And not only with one car, but with three cars on top of each other. More than 20 times as much information was sent through the glass as goes through fiberglass which is used to watch TV and to surf the internet. The magazine Nature Photonics wrote on Sunday that the data packet was sent at 255 Terabit per second during the experiment. Only 4 to 8 terabit per second goes through ordinary fiberglass. The Eindhoven Technical University collaborated with CREOL university in Florida. The scientists think that the hunger for data will only grow in the coming years. New technology is necessary to transport all that information from one place to another, according to TU Eindhoven. It will still be some time before the super fast fiber glass can go into the ground, De Waardt expects, between 1 and 5 years. The current fiberglass has one core, the experimental fiberglass has see. But this new fiber glass can not be made in great lengths yet. Receivers also need to be developed that can read the information quickly upon arrival.