Internet Capacity Up 10x↑ Latency Down to 0.001 Seconds↓
Optical Transceiver Module and MAC, Channel Bonding Technology Developed
Expectations for Activation of Personal Media Broadcasting and Immersive Entertainment

Domestic researchers have successfully developed core technologies for utilizing significantly faster internet. They have increased capacity by up to 10 times and reduced latency by 10 times through equipment improvements alone, without additional optical fiber installation—solving a long-standing challenge of establishing communication networks from users to telephone exchanges.
The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) announced that it has successfully developed core source technologies enabling 25Gbps-class internet, surpassing the existing maximum speed of 2.5Gbps for wired internet. Through this technology, data transmission is possible in 0.001 seconds—the speed at which humans can perceive tactile sensation—fast enough to download a 3GB movie in 1 second. This technology opens the era of tactile internet in the future.

Until now, internet has had limitations: when many users connect through mobile base stations or Wi-Fi, traffic increases in access networks existing within approximately 20km to nearby telephone exchanges, resulting in slower processing speeds and longer service times. Researchers have resolved this technological challenge with 25Gbps-class tactile internet technology, naming it 'TiC-TOC (Time Controlled-Tactile Optical Access)'.

ETRI explained that high-speed optical reception module technology and MAC (Medium Access Control) technology are the core of this technology. Through this, while using existing optical fiber lines as internet infrastructure, laser operating speed has been increased 10 times, enabling rapid transmission of vast amounts of data.

The high-speed optical reception module was developed to cleanly restore signals even with low optical input intensity. Additionally, MAC technology manages packets to enable traffic transmitted through optical fiber to be processed with ultra-low latency.
Researchers combined the developed optical transceiver module and optical transceiver MAC technology into a single unit, embedding it in a line card as if it were one board. Subsequently, by upgrading the existing Optical Line Terminal (OLT) installed at telephone exchanges and Optical Network Units (ONU) at apartments or buildings, ultra-high-speed, ultra-low-latency internet service becomes possible.

Researchers stated that this technology is based on previously developed ETRI technologies including ▲channel bonding technology ▲low-latency bandwidth allocation technology ▲high-sensitivity optical reception modules and optical transceiver technology. They noted that while existing internet divides user speeds through a single channel, this new technology increases the number of channels and speeds, enabling more people to use faster internet without speed degradation. Researchers anticipate that such high-speed communication technology will in the future activate high-definition personal media broadcasting and immersive entertainment industries such as virtual reality and augmented reality. They also mentioned that robots can be deployed to radiation contamination areas or polluted zones where human access is difficult, with applications in control operations such as closing valves or processing work on behalf of humans through robot control.
ETRI announced that on the 7th, to demonstrate this technology, it successfully conducted data transmission tests through KOREN (Korea Research Environment Open NETwork), a leading-edge future network test bed established between Seoul and Daejeon. The developed tactile internet technology was demonstrated through Coweaver's long-distance optical transmission equipment (POTN) installed on KOREN. Researchers confirmed this by successfully controlling in real-time a robot (pendulum device) installed in the experimental laboratory on the first floor of ETRI Building 7 in Daejeon from the control center at the Korea Information Society Development Institute in Seoul, 260km away, and also succeeding in 4K UHD-level video transmission.

This research has been progressing with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT since 2015 for the "Development of SDN-based Integrated Wired and Wireless Access Optical Networking Technology" project. Through the project, researchers have completed 9 SCI-level papers, filed approximately 40 domestic and international patents, and completed technology transfer to optical module and system companies. Commercialization is expected to be possible next year.

ETRI, together with KT, Coweaver, Olaedio, and ARtech, has developed 25Gbps tactile internet technology that has resolved existing internet capacity and information transmission time issues.

ETRI estimates the direct and indirect global market size related to this technology at $15.3 billion in 2020 and approximately $21.2 billion in 2024.

Researchers plan to further pursue research on intelligent optical access networks that intelligently accommodate ultra-immersive, ultra-connected, ultra-low-latency services while enabling rapid provision by service type. Through this, researchers plan to develop 50Gbps-class tactile internet technology and secure future intellectual property rights to drive domestic industry development.

Yang Sun-hee, head of ETRI's Network Research Division, stated: "Through the developed tactile internet technology, not only will affluent living become possible through the spread of immersive digital life, but activation of related equipment industries and service ecosystems is also expected."