Researchers achieve 1.72Tbit/s via laser over 10 kilometers

German scientists set a record for data transfer via laser. Over a distance of 10.45 kilometers they managed to achieve a speed of 1.72Tbit/s. The technology can be used to provide broadband internet in rural areas.

In October, the researchers at the Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, or DLR, managed to achieve the speed of 1.72Tbit/s with laser communication over a distance of three kilometers. That connection turned out to be so stable that they dared to take the next step: that of transferring between a station in a valley and one on a mountain. The distance between the two stations, that of Weilheim and Hohenpeißenberg, is more than ten kilometers.

According to the researchers, the disturbances of the atmosphere at the distance used approximate the influences that apply to the transmission between a satellite and a ground station. The ultimate goal of the DLR’s Thrust project is to realize these connections to provide internet in rural areas. Thrust stands for ‘terabit-throughput optical satellite system technology’.

Achieving stable connections over large distances has hitherto proved to be an obstacle to the practical application of so-called free-space optical communication. For example, it is not known how the German researchers’ system functions in the event of fog. Space agencies such as NASA and ESA are working on laser communication for interplanetary internet connections, which are not affected by atmospheric disturbances in space.