Not long ago, Hubei Province held a science and technology conference. An exciting news from Wuhan Research Institute of Posts and Telecommunications, the laboratory of the Institute once again set the world record for optical transmission, reaching 400T per second. This means that an optical fiber with the thickness of a hair can accommodate 4.8 billion people around the world talking online at the same time.
According to estimates, the data size of an ordinary high-definition movie is about 2G, and a Blu-ray HD movie is about 10G. With the latest optical transmission speed of Wuhan Academy of Posts, 40,000 Blu-ray HD movies can be transmitted in 1 second.
In the past three years, Wuhan Academy of Posts and Posts has successfully hit the world record five times.
Lu Guoqing, Secretary of the Party Committee of Wuhan Academy of Posts and Technology and President of Fiberhome Technology Group, told reporters that this ultra-large-capacity optical transmission system is the core technology of the national 973 project “Ultra-high-speed, ultra-large-capacity and ultra-long-distance optical transmission basic research” led by the Academy of Posts and Telecommunications. The breakthrough of this major scientific and technological achievement lies in the overcoming of special multi-core single-mode fiber technology.
In the optical fiber and cable industry, the round optical fiber preform belongs to the core technology field. Due to high technical barriers, the production process has been in the hands of a few companies in developed countries for a long time, and Chinese companies have rarely achieved large-scale production of optical fiber preforms. Every year, the import ratio of optical fiber preforms in my country exceeds 50%, and most optical fiber and optical cable manufacturers are in the stage of “buying rods and drawing”.
Since 2003, YOFC has established a new generation of preform large-scale production technology development project team with independent intellectual property rights, and has successively developed internationally leading large and small-sized optical fiber preforms, and achieved mass production.
YOFC has successfully developed a production facility for optical fiber preforms, freeing itself from dependence on foreign technology and greatly reducing production costs. Yan Changkun said, “In the past, it cost 3 million euros to import a set of equipment, but YOFC’s self-developed equipment only costs less than 3 million yuan. As a result, manufacturing costs are lowered, fiber prices are further reduced, and products are more competitive.”
At present, the preform produced by YOFC has a diameter of 20 cm, which is the largest in the world; the length of the fiber after a single preform is drawn exceeds 7,500 kilometers, which has become the benchmark for global optical fiber production efficiency.
After years of development, YOFC has achieved independent development, manufacturing and external sales of core equipment for preforms, optical fibers, and optical cables. It is the only company in the world that masters the preparation of the three mainstream preforms at the same time. It is also the most complete product in the global industry. The company with the longest industrial chain.
On November 3, 2016, the “Optics Valley of China” Optoelectronics Expo opened in Wuhan. Local companies such as Fiberhome, YOFC, Huagong Technology, and Chutian Laser gathered together, and cutting-edge technologies such as optical communications and optical manufacturing gathered together.
In the booth, a mysterious “box” released dazzling light, instantly cutting off the 1 cm thick steel plate, attracting many audiences to stop and watch. “Our 10,000-watt fiber laser is the second company in the world to master this core technology after the United States.” Yan Dapeng, an expert in the “Thousand Talents Program” responsible for technological research, said excitedly. Laser energy is now widely used in industrial shipbuilding, aircraft and automobile manufacturing, aerospace and other fields.
10,000 watt laser is not the only “magic weapon” on the show. Behind each exhibit is a string of beautiful numbers. Wuhan Optics Valley has become the world’s largest optical fiber and cable research and development base, with a domestic market share of 66% for optical fiber and cable, 25% of the international market, and world-leading sales. It has become my country’s largest optical device R&D and production base, with a domestic market share of 60%. %, the international market share is 12%; it has become the largest laser industry base in my country, and the domestic market share of the laser industry has exceeded 50% for 11 consecutive years.
Li Shiting, director of the Science and Technology Innovation Bureau of Wuhan East Lake High-tech Zone, said that in the future, it will be necessary to realize the domestic leading industrial ecology through matching cooperation between the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain in the fields of optical materials, optical sensing, optical networking, optical computing, and optical services.
Today, outside of Optics Valley, the scale of my country’s optical communications industry is about 35-40 billion yuan, and the number of communications companies in the country is expected to exceed 2,000. my country has become the world’s most important fiber optic cable market and the world’s largest fiber optic cable manufacturer, with annual output accounting for more than 50% of global output.
The primary school students have now become “professors”, participating in the formulation of global technical regulations. Good news came from the Wuhan Academy of Posts not long ago. Li Keng, chief engineer of Fiberhome’s strategy and marketing department, was elected as the vice chairman of the International Telecommunication Union’s “Internet of Things and Its Applications in Smart Cities and Communities” research group. This is also the first time in this position. Served by the Chinese. “Before we all followed the rules of others, now we ourselves are the rulers.” said Yu Shaohua, chief engineer of Wuhan Academy of Posts and Telecommunications.
But Shaohua Yu also said frankly: “In recent years, we have indeed made great strides, but compared with the international community, we still have a long way to go.”
During the “Optical Valley of China” Optical Expo in 2016, at the summit forum to commemorate the 50th anniversary of optical fiber communications, some experts pointed out with concern that from the international market, 80% of the market share of the major international optical fiber giants is abroad, while domestic optical fiber 90% of the company’s market is in the country. Although the total number of patents of Chinese companies has increased, the core development patents are insufficient, especially in terms of international patents. This is also a gap in internationalization. The patent gap lies in the weak R&D force, and the level of the R&D team is still far behind the international benchmark.
Speaking of industrial issues, Zhao Zisen said: “China is currently facing the challenge of overcapacity in optical fiber production. However, high-end optical components are still insufficient and still need to be imported. Secondly, the cost of fiber to the home is too expensive, and the cost after further speed-up is even higher. The fiber penetration rate in the vast rural areas is still low.”
Same view as Zhao Zisen. Mao Qian, senior technical consultant at Wuhan Academy of Posts and Telecommunications, believes that the main problem facing my country’s optical communications industry is the lack of core technologies. Many raw materials for preforms, high-end optical devices, and optical fiber cables are still dependent on imports.
“Our country is not only a big country in optical communications, but it also needs to develop into a strong country in optical communications. The development of 5G, big data, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things has created opportunities for the further development of optical communications. It is necessary to strengthen innovation and master core technologies to enable optical communications. Industry has become the pillar industry of our country’s economy.” Mao Qian said.
“The 4G era is only equivalent to paving the way for information, and 5G can be seen as the era of information building cities. In the end, information will come to your heart and optical fiber will make everything within reach.” Yu Shaohua is full of confidence in the future.
