100 Gigabit Internet why and how : the technology behind it

The need to keep transmission capacity growing is a never ending process which is becoming more and more challenging to fulfill. Over the years we have witnessed data rates to grow from less than one bit per second all the way up to tens of Giga bits per second thus leading to the overall aggregate throughputs of several Terra bits per second which can be observed in today's the most advanced optical communications networks. This progression was accomplished by replacing earlier simple copper conductor wires by a twisted pair, then by coaxial cables which later on were superseded by microwave transmission systems. After fundamental discoveries leading to coherent light sources - lasers and fiber optic cables, fiber optics data communication became the prevailing way in data transmission. The combination of fiber optics, optical data multiplexing techniques, and advanced electronic signal processing helped to realize data transmission capabilities which just a few years ago would have been very hardly even to imagine