In what it claimed is a world record for unrepeated optical transmission over undersea cables, Paris-based Alcatel SA announced today that it had achieved in a test data throughput rates of 1.6T bit/sec. over a distance of 321 kilometers.
Typically, optical signals have to be repeated over such distances because of signal deterioration. In the test, 160 separate wavelengths of light were used, Alcatel said, breaking the company's own record of 32 wavelengths sent over 250 kilometers at 1.28T bit/sec.
