Breaking the Limits: Six Technical Paths Reveal the Way to Increase the Transmission Rate of Wires and Cables
In a cable as thin as a hair, the technological revolution is quietly reshaping the blood flow of the digital world.
In 2025, the global high-speed cable market is expanding at an astonishing rate. The LightCounting report predicts that its sales will more than double in the next five years, reaching US$6.7 billion by 2029. Behind this growth is the unprecedented demand for high-bandwidth transmission from 5G, artificial intelligence, and hyperscale data centers.
When facing 10G transmission tasks, traditional cables often encounter bottlenecks such as signal attenuation, electromagnetic interference, and physical damage. However, the triple breakthroughs in materials science, structural design, and signal algorithms are pushing the Shannon limit to new heights – Increasing the transmission rate is no longer a dream, but a sophisticated technical symphony.
1. Material Revolution: Molecular Breakthrough of Insulation Layer and Conductor
The core bottleneck of the transmission performance of wires and cables lies in dielectric loss and conductor impedance, and material innovation is solving this problem at the molecular level.
Foaming insulation technology has become a key path to increase the rate. The patent of Changfei Optical Fiber shows that by optimizing the foaming material formula, the foaming degree of the insulation layer can reach 85%, and the uniformity of the foam cells is significantly improved. This reduces the attenuation of the RF coaxial cable from 6.3dB to 5.64dB per 100 meters at a frequency of 2700MHz, and the attenuation index is improved by nearly 10%.
Similarly, carbon dioxide foaming technology can increase the propagation rate of CATV coaxial cables by 7% under high-purity gas treatment, and the operating frequency jumps to 6GHz, which perfectly matches the needs of 5G networks.
In the field of conductor interface, Laier Technology’s innovation is more disruptive. The high-speed transmission hot melt adhesive film they developed is based on maleic anhydride-modified polyolefin resin and directly adheres to metal conductors. This design eliminates the signal loss caused by traditional gaskets, increases the transmission rate of FFC cables while reducing attenuation, and avoids the problem of PIN removal in the later gold plating process.
2. Structural design: from static protection to dynamic anti-interference
The cable is no longer a simple “wire wrapped in plastic” structure. Multi-layer composite architecture is combating complex interference in the real world through physical optimization.
Hebei Huiming Cable’s patent shows a “dynamic protection” design: inserting a buffer component consisting of polyurethane elastic foam layer + arc elastic sheet between the cable conductor and the outer sheath. When the cable is crushed by external force, the structure can disperse the pressure and avoid signal distortion caused by conductor deformation. The outer sheath adopts a three-layer composite design – the outer rubber layer is anti-aging, the anti-corrosion layer is anti-chemical erosion, and the outer insulation layer blocks electromagnetic interference.
In the field of high-speed digital signal transmission, Dongguan Yangkang Electronics optimizes impedance matching through asymmetric shielding. The upper and lower sides of the wire are covered with a high-frequency film made of low-dielectric hot-melt adhesive material (dielectric constant <2.6), and the bottom composite film integrates an aluminum foil electromagnetic shielding layer. This structure not only controls signal reflection loss, but also increases the external interference suppression rate by more than 40%.
3. Signal reconstruction: algorithm-driven rate limit breakthrough
When the physical layer optimization is close to the ceiling, intelligent signal processing becomes the key to breaking through the bottleneck.
Guangdong Yincheng Electronics’ patent reveals a new path for rate optimization of passive copper cables: first, collect the cable physical characteristic parameters to establish a benchmark model; then reconstruct the transmission signal waveform through a modulation optimization algorithm; finally, dynamically eliminate noise based on interference feature data.
This technology can achieve adaptive transmission rate improvement without replacing existing copper cable facilities, and is especially suitable for the renovation of old machine rooms.
More cutting-edge exploration comes from the field of optical communications. The multi-level linear and nonlinear constellation optimization algorithm developed by NEC realizes the transoceanic transmission of 32QAM modulated signals. A transmission record of 11Tbps was set in 50.9 kilometers of submarine optical fiber – equivalent to transmitting 550 4K movies per second.
4. Environmental adaptation: precise game between temperature, humidity and air pressure
The actual deployment environment of cables is complex and changeable. Temperature and humidity fluctuations will cause the electrical parameters of the dielectric to drift, which in turn affects the rate stability.
Sanjun Cable’s patented test method provides a solution: establish a gradient air pressure-humidity coupling model inside the copper cable. By injecting humid air to simulate different climatic conditions, signal parameter changes are collected in real time.
Based on this model, a prediction system can be built to automatically switch the equalizer parameters when environmental changes trigger the attenuation threshold. This technology reduces the rate fluctuation of copper cables by 35% in extreme scenarios such as tropical rainforests or deserts.
5. Fiber fusion: the co-evolution of copper cables and optical domains
Despite the continuous innovation of copper cables, fiber technology is still the ultimate solution for ultra-high-speed transmission.
Active Optical Cables (AOCs) embed optical transceivers into the cable endpoints, providing electrical interface compatibility while hiding the optical components. Its transmission distance far exceeds that of traditional copper cables, and the aggregate data rate cost is reduced by 60%.
Even more disruptive is the Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) technology – integrating the optical engine with the ASIC chip package to completely avoid circuit board signal loss. When the data rate exceeds 100Gbps, CPO becomes the only solution that can meet the energy consumption ratio requirements.
Market data confirms this trend: from 2024 to 2028, although the compound growth rate of AOCs is about 15%, the growth rate of Active Electronic Cables (AECs) supporting 200G SerDes is as high as 45%. The fusion architecture of copper and light is becoming mainstream.
6. Test Revolution: Model-driven Precise Iteration
Improving the rate depends not only on innovation on the design side, but also on the progress of test methods. Traditional testing takes weeks or even months.
The intelligent test system developed by Sanjun Cable can automatically generate pressure-humidity-signal parameter coupling matrix. The system calls model components (such as moisture-heat diffusion equation and skin effect algorithm) from the associated logic library, shortening the development cycle to 1/5 of the traditional method.
The technology can also realize fault prediction: when the signal parameters deviate from the model prediction value, the cable micro-damage section is automatically located. This shortens the maintenance response time by 90%, avoiding huge losses caused by network interruption.
From the 85% foaming degree insulation layer of Changfei Optical Fiber, to the 11Tbps transmission achieved by NEC in submarine optical cables, to the environmental adaptive model of Sanjun Cable, cable rate improvement has evolved into a precision system engineering driven by materials, structures and algorithms.
Market data confirms this process: behind the surge in demand for high-speed cables is the 45% annual compound growth rate of AECs cables.
In the future, with the popularization of CPO optoelectronic co-packaging technology and the commercialization of 200G SerDes copper cables, the transmission rate will cross a new watershed. But no matter how the medium evolves, the goal remains unchanged – to make bits flow as freely and quickly as light.
When the last meter of cable is connected to the terminal, The silent current is passing through the nano-maze in the foam micropores, Resisting physical extrusion under the buffer of the polyurethane elastic layer, Reshaping the waveform through the modulation algorithm, Finally reaching the end – This is the road to victory for bits.
OFTE STILLEDE SPØRGSMÅL
Q1: How does foamed insulation improve cable speed?
A: 85% foam density reduces RF signal attenuation by 10% at 2.7GHz (e.g. CATV cables).
Q2: Can existing copper cables achieve higher speeds?
A: Yes, signal modulation algorithms can adaptively boost rates without hardware replacement.
Q3: Why choose AECs over traditional copper cables?
A: Active Electronic Cables deliver 45% CAGR growth with 200G SerDes support at lower latency.
Q4: How to maintain speed in extreme environments?
A: Gradient pressure-humidity models auto-adjust equalizers, cutting rate fluctuations by 35%.
Q5: What’s the future of CPO technology?
A: Co-Packaged Optics integrates light engines with ASICs, enabling 100Gbps+ with 60% lower power.