The fastest data in the world

Chris Baraniuk, a technology reporter, recently covered a nerve-wracking event at Cern, the world's largest science experiment. Two network engineers, Joachim Opdenakker and Edwin Verheul, were inside a warehouse in Switzerland, anxiously pressing a button to initiate a new data link. This link was designed to connect the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to data storage sites in The Netherlands. When the text appeared on the screen, they knew their efforts had paid off. Joachim described the moment as super cool, with lots of high-fiving. The new data link could reach speeds of 800 gigabits per second (Gbps), which is more than 11,000 times faster than the average home internet. This advancement aims to improve scientists' access to the results of LHC experiments. In March, they tested the link again using special equipment from Nokia and confirmed that the desired speeds were achievable. Edwin mentioned that the equipment is like a celebrity, booked up for use at various locations. They had limited time to conduct the tests, and any delay would mean losing access to the equipment. The LHC is expected to produce five times as much data after its upgrade, making this new link crucial. The duplex cable from Cern to The Netherlands is nearly 1,650 kilometers long, stretching from Geneva to Paris, then Brussels, and finally Amsterdam. One of the challenges was to beam pulses of light over such a long distance. Joachim explained that the power levels of the light decrease over the distance, requiring amplification at different points. Each time a tiny subatomic particle collides with another during LHC experiments, it generates massive amounts of data. This data is slimmed down for storage and study but still demands significant bandwidth. With an upgrade due by 2029, the LHC expects to produce even more data. James Watt, a senior vice president at Nokia, said the upgrade would increase the number of collisions by at least five times. In November, a team of researchers in Japan set a new world record for data transmission speeds, reaching an astonishing 22. 9 petabits per second (Pbps). This bandwidth is enough to supply every person on the planet with a Netflix stream. Chigo Okonkwo at Eindhoven University of Technology, who was involved in the project, said they used a new type of cable with multiple cores, different from the standard cables that connect many homes to the internet. Wladek Forysiak at Aston University in the UK noted that older fiber is expensive to dig up and replace, so extending its lifetime is beneficial. He and his colleagues recently achieved speeds of around 402 terabits per second (Tbps) along a 50-kilometer-long optical fiber with just one core. This speed is about 5. 7 million times faster than the average UK home broadband connection. Their technique involves using more wavelengths of light than usual when transmitting data down an optical line. This setup could be easier to install than replacing thousands of kilometers of cable. Martin Creaner, director general of the World Broadband Association, suggested that future activities might require extreme bandwidth. His organization expects home broadband connections to improve, but reliability may be even more critical than speed for some applications. For instance, remote robotic surgery across 3,000 miles cannot afford any network downtime. Dr. Okonkwo added that training AI would increasingly require moving large datasets, and the faster this can be done, the better. Ian Phillips, who works with Prof. Forysiak, said bandwidth tends to find applications once it is available. Lane Burdette, a research analyst at TeleGeography, noted that demand for bandwidth is growing rapidly. Content provision like social media, cloud services, and video streaming is consuming far more bandwidth than before. In the UK, there is still much work to be done to improve internet speeds. Many people still have slow broadband at home. Andrew Kernahan, head of public affairs at the Internet Service Providers Association, said most home users could now access gigabit per second speeds. However, only about a third of broadband customers are signing up for such technology. There is no killer app at the moment that really requires it, but this might change as more TV is consumed via the internet.