In a new development from the Keio Frontier Research & Education Collaborative Square (K-FRECS) at Shin-Kawasaki's Keio Photonics Research Institute (KPRI), Professor Yasuhiro Koike and his research team have created a plastic optical fiber that all but eliminates errors in data transmissions (hereinafter, "Error-free POF"), a discovery expected to have positive implications for data centers, automobile manufacturers, medicine, and other technologies related to short-distance data transmission. In addition, they have successfully transmitted data at 53 gigabits per second without using current error correction techniques typically required when using Four-level Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM4), a next-generation standard technology in data center communications.
While the age of AI and IoT has increased demand for fast and reliable data transmission, faster transmission speeds present a challenge for accuracy. Most modern data transmission systems utilize error correction schemes such as FEC(Forward Error Correction) or wave-shaping circuits in order to correct data errors that occur during transfer. However, this comes with added costs, including higher energy consumption and communication delays.
The newly developed Error-free POF renders such error correction schemes and waveform shaping circuits unnecessary, thus reducing energy consumption, delays, and cost all at once. The applications for this new technology go far beyond data center energy efficiency. The high-capacity real-time data transmission capabilities of Error-free POF pave the way for advancements in multiple fields such as the automobile industry, medicine, and robotics, making it a highly anticipated core technology of next-generation information industries.
Portions of the research results were recently published on August 1, 2021 in Optics Letters, an international academic journal, while specific details will be announced in November, 2021 during the International Conference on Plastic Optical Fibers (POF2021).