German Scientists Achieve Record 100Gbps Via Wireless Data Link 67
Mark.JUK writes "A joint team of German scientists working at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have successfully achieved a new world record for wireless data transfers. The team were able to transmit information at speeds of 100 Gigabits per second by using a radio network operating at the frequency of 237.5GHz and over a distance of 20 metres (note: a prior experiment hit 40Gbps over 1km between two skyscrapers). The radio signals were generated by a photon mixer device that uses two optical laser signals of different frequencies, which were then superimposed on a photodiode to create an electrical signal (237.5 GHz) that could be radiated via an antenna. But the team aren't happy with breaking one record and their future attempts will seek to break the 1 Terabit per second (Tbps) barrier."
Re:Speed? (Score:5, Informative)
Electromagnetic waves through air propagate at approximately .9997c.
Re: 1/r^2 still true (Score:2, Informative)
The recieved signal strength would be multiplied by the antenna gain, but the distance square loss always applies, even with a strongly directional antenna. Even if the beam width is 1 degree across, the "area" taken up by that 1 degree increases with the square of the distance.