Where old telephone lines and undersea cables fail, a laser beam between Alpine peaks could take over by transmitting terabits of data without interruption. It's not a sci-fi movie script, but an incredible project fielded by ETH Zurich and its European partners.
In a test conducted between the Jungfraujoch mountain peak and the city of Bern, Switzerland, researchers shot several terabits of data per second through the air. A remarkable achievement that could one day be scaled up using a network of low Earth orbit satellites. And this could put an end to the era of expensive underwater telecommunications cables.
A “web laser” instead of cables
As you know, theInternet as we know it today is supported by a dense network of fiber optic cables. These cables, dispersed in the depths of the seas and very expensive (hundreds of millions of dollars each), transport over 100 terabits of data per second. Imagine if we could do the same, or even more, with lasers. It would be easier, faster and cheaper.
There is obviously a challenge to overcome: atmospheric interference. As the laser beam travels through the dense atmosphere near the ground, it encounters various obstacles that can disturb the movement of light waves and data transmission. Apparently, however, researchers at ETH Zurich have found a solution: a special chip and 100 tiny adjustable mirrors. With these, they managed to correct the phase shift of the laser beam, significantly improving the quality of the signal.
Terabits of data “fired” from a laser: new era for data transmission
“This system represents a turning point”, they explain to the Swiss institute. “Until now, we only had two options: connect long distances with a narrow bandwidth of a few gigabits, or cover short distances of a few meters with a large bandwidth, using free-space lasers.” With this new system, we are able to achieve the extraordinary performance of 1 terabit per second using just one wavelength. And that's not all: the system could be expanded up to 40 channels, increasing its capacity at an incredible 40 terabits per second.
We're still a long way from seeing lasers shooting data through the air as the norm, but this test is certainly a perhaps decisive step forward towards a faster, cheaper future for telecommunications.
