From the IGN website:
Drooling yet? Suck it Verizon Fios!Researchers Achieve Record Breaking Internet Speeds
The fastest internet ever?
by Scott Lowe
February 29, 2008 - French researchers at Bell Labs announced today that they have managed to create a connection capable of transferring data at speeds of 16.4 terabytes-per-second. The firm claims that a connection was made over the span of 2,550 kilometers, roughly 1,584 miles, at a capacity of 41.8 petabits a second, per kilometer. The connection broke world records for capacity by distance through the use of 164 wavelength-division multiplexed channels, each modulating 100Gbps. In layman's terms, wavelength-division multiplexing technology essentially combines multiple optical signals into one optical fiber by organizing the laser light wavelengths into separate, distinguishable colors.
The significance of building a connection as prodigious as 16.4Tbps is important in terms of making strides towards the development of a 100Gbps Ethernet connection. By exploiting the increased fiber bandwidth made available by Bell Labs' recent innovations in wavelenght-division multiplexing, developers will be able to cope with the growing demands for greater capacity in internet backbones. As of press time, details on any projected public implementation remain unknown.
Originally Posted by Adak
CornedBee
