FASTNET - Revolutionary hollow core low-latency fibres and cables for ultrafast next-generation optical networks

FASTNET - 用于超快下一代光网络的革命性空心低延迟光纤和电缆

• 批准号: EP/X025276/1
• 负责人: Francesco Poletti
• 金额: $ 364.84万
• 依托单位: University of Southampton
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FX025276%2F1
• 关键词: FASTNET; Revolutionary; hollow; core; low

The FASTNET Prosperity Partnership between Lumenisity and the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton will develop the first radically new optical communications medium in over 40 years. The program will make a one-third improvement in the speed at which data is transmitted, helping eliminate the lag and sluggish response of real-time interactive digital applications.This digital lag is caused by the time it takes to transmit data from the user to a distant remote datacentre and back to the user. It can cause sickness in augmented and virtual reality entertainment, it removes responsive feel in remote surgery and healthcare, and it slows autonomous systems presenting a risk that they may not react in time.The University of Southampton has pioneered a new way of transmitting high-capacity data in hollow optical fibre. Here, the data modulates a light beam that is transmitted in the air inside the fibre, rather than in the ultrapure glass that is in the centre of 100's of millions of kilometres of optical fibre used to connect the global internet today. By transmitting data in air, light travels 50% faster, whilst the design means the fibre is just as strong, lightweight and flexible as current technology, meaning it can be installed just as easily as current optical fibre cable. By transmitting data in air, the performance of this new hollow-core optical fibre is also much less dependent on the properties of the glass from which it is made. This opens the possibility of transmitting much more data - the program will target increasing data capacity by up to 500%.Whilst major advances have been made in this new generation of hollow-core fibre, to date design and fabrication limitations mean that too much light has been lost when the fibre is incorporated into a cable as needed for real-world use, limiting its use to relatively short communication links. Moreover, the current manufacturing process is only capable of producing ~20km of fibre at a time, which ultimately represents a major impediment to widespread commercialization and deployment of the technology. The major objective of this Prosperity Partnership will be to develop new designs, fabrication processes and cabling techniques that mean hollow-core fibre cable loses less light than conventional optical fibre. It will then be able to transmit data over much longer distances than even conventional optical fibre, whilst delivering 30% faster speed and much greater data-carrying capacity.This project will leverage a 5-year commitment for co-investment by EPSRC and Lumenisity, an innovative new UK company formed in 2016 to bring hollow-core fibre cable and low lag (technically known as latency) communications to the market. Lumenisity is constructing a dedicated UK manufacturing facility and have built a world-leading engineering team with decades of optical technology, optical fibre and cable experience. They will work together with the University of Southampton to combine knowledge, facilities and globally leading research talent to overcome the technical challenges of reducing loss in hollow-core optical fibre, whilst maintaining its benefits in cabled form, and ensuring it can efficiently be manufactured in high volume within the UK.Achieving this ambitious goal will enable UK invented, innovated and manufactured next-generation hollow-core optical fibre to be used in global communication networks. This will reduce future latency and help increase bandwidth for everyone, thereby helping to support the entire future digital economy. FASTNET will be key to connecting the nation, improving productivity in digital manufacturing, and enhancing network security and resilience, whilst supporting next-generation 5G and 6G applications such as autonomous vehicles and remote healthcare.

Lumenisity 与南安普顿大学光电子研究中心之间的 FASTNET Prosperity 合作伙伴关系将开发 40 多年来第一个全新的光通信介质。该计划将使数据传输速度提高三分之一，有助于消除实时交互式数字应用程序的滞后和反应迟缓。这种数字滞后是由将数据从用户传输到目标所需的时间造成的。遥远的远程数据中心并返回给用户。它可能会导致增强现实和虚拟现实娱乐中的疾病，它会消除远程手术和医疗保健中的响应感觉，并且会减慢自主系统的速度，从而带来可能无法及时做出反应的风险。南安普顿大学开创了一种传输高能信号的新方式。空心光纤的容量数据。在这里，数据调制光束在光纤内部的空气中传输，而不是在超纯玻璃中传输，超纯玻璃位于当今用于连接全球互联网的数百百万公里光纤的中心。通过在空气中传输数据，光的传输速度提高了 50%，而这种设计意味着光纤与当前技术一样坚固、轻便且灵活，这意味着它可以像当前光纤电缆一样轻松安装。通过在空气中传输数据，这种新型空心光纤的性能也更少依赖于制成其的玻璃的特性。这开启了传输更多数据的可能性 - 该计划的目标是将数据容量提高高达 500%。虽然新一代空心光纤已取得重大进展，但迄今为止的设计和制造限制意味着太多的光当光纤根据实际使用需要合并到电缆中时，它就已经丢失，从而限制了其在相对较短的通信链路中的使用。此外，目前的制造工艺一次只能生产约 20 公里的光纤，这最终成为该技术广泛商业化和部署的主要障碍。这一繁荣合作伙伴关系的主要目标将是开发新的设计、制造工艺和布线技术，这意味着空心光纤电缆比传统光纤损失的光更少。它将能够比传统光纤传输更远的数据距离，同时提供更快 30% 的速度和更大的数据承载能力。该项目将利用 EPSRC 和 Lumenisity 共同投资的 5 年承诺，一家于 2016 年成立的创新型英国新公司，致力于将空心光缆和低延迟（技术上称为延迟）通信推向市场。 Lumenisity 正在英国建设专门的制造工厂，并组建了一支拥有数十年光学技术、光纤和光缆经验的世界领先的工程团队。他们将与南安普顿大学合作，将知识、设施和全球领先的研究人才结合起来，克服减少空心光纤损耗的技术挑战，同时保持其成缆形式的优势，并确保它可以在英国国内的产量很高。实现这一雄心勃勃的目标将使英国发明、创新和制造的下一代空心光纤能够用于全球通信网络。这将减少未来的延迟并有助于增加每个人的带宽，从而有助于支持整个未来的数字经济。 FASTNET 将成为连接国家、提高数字制造生产力、增强网络安全性和弹性的关键，同时支持自动驾驶汽车和远程医疗等下一代 5G 和 6G 应用。