At the Internet2 consortium"s spring meeting in Arlington, Virginia, it was publically announced that a group of researchers led by the University of Tokyo had broken Internet speed records – twice in two days. On December 30, researchers sent data at 7.67 gigabits per second, using standard communications protocols. The next day, using modified protocols, the team broke the record again by sending data over the same 20,000-mile path at 9.08 Gbps. Researchers used the IPv6 Internet addressing system to break the records in December. Data started in Tokyo and went to Chicago, Amsterdam and Seattle before returning to Tokyo.
The previous high of 6.96 Gbps was set in November 2005. Speed records under the older addressing system, IPv4, are in a separate category and stand at 8.8 Gbps, set in February 2006. Rules require a 10% improvement for recognition, a percentage that would bring the next record right at the Internet2"s current theoretical limit of 10 Gbps. Not willing to give up, the Internet2 consortium is planning to build a new network with a capacity of 100 Gbps. The Internet2 is run by a consortium of more than 200 U.S. universities. It is currently working to merge with another ultrahigh-speed, next-generation network, called National LambdaRail.