In Sweden, A Residence Gets A 40 Gigabits-Per-Second Fiber-Optic Connection
Written by Evan SchumanJust to prove that it can be done, a pair of Swedish networking specialists have crafted a 40 gigabits-per-second fiber-optic connection for a Stockholm residence. To put that into context, that’s almost 14 times faster than the ceiling speed for a T3.
The speed is reached using a new modulation technique that allows the sending of data between two routers placed up to 1,240 miles apart, without any transponders in between, said Hafsteinn Jonsson, head of the Karlstad city network unit, according to this Yahoo News story.
To the extent that such speeds ever become practical, this could start to push the limits of hard-disk desktop space, let alone the amount of RAM needed to manage such a vast data pipe. That said, it still sounds like a fun connection to have in one’s basement.
-Marc
July 20th, 2007 at 2:00 am
A slight correction. A 40 GB fiber optic connection is also known as an OC 768 connection. The optical equivalent of a T3 line is an OC 1. Therefore, the 40 GB connection is not 14 times faster, but at least 768 times faster. The speed is not that amazing. OC 768 has been in deployment for years. However, the distance without electro-optical regeneration is.
September 10th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
A correction to Ken’s correction.
A T3 line is 45 Mbps. An OC-1 line is 155 Mbps. OC designations (and capactities) are roughly equivalent to STM designations. As such, they progress in series of four, so the next OC designation is an OC-4. Roughly, OC-4 = 622 Mbps, OC-16 = 2.5 Gbps, OC-64 = 10 Gbps, OC-256 = 40 Gbps.
40 Gbps is approximately 884 times the capacity of a T3 line.
P.S. My first day (and my first post) on this site – it’s an excellent site and I will add it to my favourites, though as a finance and public sector ICT Consultant, I almost never do retail sector ICT consulting.