A team of researchers have made a huge breakthrough in data transmission via fiber optics by using a single computer chip to transfer 1.84 petabits of data per second, which is roughly twice the entire internet’s traffic .
The team split the stream into 37 sections for each fiber optic cable core, then split those sections into 223 data chunks in the electr-magnetic spectrum, transmitting them all at once over 7.9 kilometers without interfering with each other. While not as fast as data transfer rates of 10.66 petabits per second that are currently possible, the beauty of this record-breaking achievement by Jørgensen and his team is miniaturizing. Compared to bulkier equipment currently used to achieve the 10.66 petabits per second speeds, the upscaling of a single chip to match or even exceed that transfer rate is going to remain exceedingly compact.