The National Key Laboratory of Optical Communication Technologies and Networks, operating under the auspices of China Information and Communication Technologies Group, alongside relevant collaborators, has triumphantly conducted a real-time bidirectional transmission experiment using multi-core fiber technology, achieving an unprecedented rate of 3.2 petabits per second (Pb/s). This milestone sets a new global benchmark for single-fiber bidirectional real-time optical transmission capacity. To put this into perspective, such a transmission speed enables the download of over 20,000 4K-resolution movies in a mere second. The successful demonstration underscores the viable industrialization potential of multi-core fiber technology for ultra-broadband capacity enhancement, offering pivotal core technologies for next-generation high-speed optical communication. These technologies are crucial for interconnecting large-scale computing hubs, facilitating backbone network transmissions, and supporting 6G bearer networks (Note: '6G bearer networks' is used here to maintain the specific technical connotation; if a more direct translation is preferred, it could be rendered as '6G carrier networks').

Confronted with the imminent capacity constraints of conventional single-mode fiber transmission systems, the research team creatively introduced a 24-core multi-core fiber bidirectional transmission framework. This innovative approach, combined with advanced multiplexing techniques, enables the establishment of thousands of parallel transmission channels. It not only dramatically exceeds the capacity limitations inherent in traditional single-mode fibers but also strikes an optimal balance between transmission efficacy and engineering feasibility. The total transmission capacity of a single fiber has been amplified by 32-fold compared to that of traditional commercial single-core fibers, effectively shattering the capacity barriers of single-core fiber technology. At present, this groundbreaking achievement has been submitted as an invited paper to the esteemed international optics journal, the Journal of Lightwave Technology, further solidifying China's leading position in the field of optical communication research.