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Technical Scope

SC1: Novel fibres, fibre devices and amplifiers

  • Physics of light propagation in optical fibres
  • Optical fibre design, fabrication and characterisation
  • Specialty optical fibres for improved transmission performance
  • Low-latency fibres and fibres for new wavelength ranges
  • Fibre-based devices
  • Fibre amplifiers and fibre lasers
  • Multimode & multicore fibre and fibre amplifiers
  • Highly nonlinear fibres and their applications
  • Fibres for sensing applications
  • Fiber installation, connectors, splicing, reliability

SC2: Discrete photonic devices and technologies

  • Novel material platforms and structured materials
  • Design, fabrication and characterisation of novel devices for integration and functionality
  • Detectors and sources, directly modulated lasers and VCSELs
  • Hybrid III-V/Group IV materials and devices for silicon photonics
  • Nanophotonics
  • Optoelectronic devices
  • Ultrafast devices and technologies

SC3: Photonic Integrated Circuits, assemblies and packaging

  • Integrated III-V devices
  • Large-scale photonic integrated circuits
  • Packaging of devices, testing of performance and reliability
  • Co-packaged optical and electronic ICs (2D, 2.5D and 3D)
  • System-on-a-chip (SoC) and on-chip networks
  • Advanced analog and digital electronic/optical co-integrated circuits
  • Nonlinear waveguides for optical signal processing
  • Reconfigurable photonic integrated circuits
  • Photonic integrated circuits for neuromorphic applications and Artificial Intelligence
  • Frequency combs and microresonators

SC4: Signal processing for optical communication systems

  • Algorithms for DSP in optical transmission systems
  • Modelling and design of DSP
  • Experimental demonstration of DSP
  • Design, implementation and implications of reduced complexity DSP algorithms
  • Comparison of conventional DSP with neuromorphic or machine learning techniques
  • Real-time DSP implementations for optical communications

SC5: Theory of optical communications

  • New transmission system modelling methods
  • Capacity, reach, flexibility limits of optical transmission systems
  • System level implications of physical impairments and impairment mitigation techniques
  • Novel error correction coding
  • Advanced data encoding and signal shaping
  • Information theory for optical communications

SC6: Optical transmission systems

  • Lab/field demonstrations of optical transmission links deploying novel fibres, devices, subsystems and multiplexing techniques
  • Link system demonstrations using novel signal modulation techniques
  • Analog and nonlinear signal processing subsystems demonstrating transmission enhancements
  • Multiplexing and demultiplexing subsystems for improved transmission
  • Demonstration of spatially multiplexed transmission links
  • Subsea links and cable deployment
  • Sensing and optical performance monitoring techniques and subsystems

SC7: Core and Metro networks

  • Core and metro optical network architectures
  • High capacity optical transport networks
  • Submarine optical networks
  • Optical node architectures supporting also fast reconfigurability
  • Optical layer resilience and security
  • Optical network deployments and field trials
  • Inter data centres interconnection
  • Systems and nodes supporting optical switching and regeneration functionalities
  • Optical switching and routing in long haul and core networks

SC8: Access, indoor and short-reach for data centres and mobile networks

  • Fibre-to-the-premises (FTTx) and optical access networks
  • Passive optical networks
  • In-building optical networks
  • Intra data centre interconnect networks
  • High performance computer networks
  • Backhaul, midhaul and fronthaul networks for mobile applications
  • Highly parallel network and interconnect demonstrations
  • Photonics for Cloud and low latency services
  • Optical switching and routing in short-reach networks

SC9: Photonics for RF and Free-Space optics applications

  • Microwave photonics subsystems
  • Millimetre-wave and THz photonics signal generation/detection
  • Demonstration of optics-based THz wireless subsystems
  • Demonstration of analog radio-over-fibre systems for 5G and beyond
  • Optical wireless communication (subsystems and networks)
  • LiFi and VLC communication networks
  • Satellite photonic communication links
  • Lab/field demonstration of free-space optical wireless transmission
  • Photonic wired/wireless communication network solutions

SC10: Architecture, control and management of optical networks

  • Control, orchestration, and management of optical networks
  • Multi-layer network architecture, design and modelling
  • SDN/NFV enabled optical networking
  • Planning and scaling of hybrid optical/optoelectronic networks
  • Applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning in monitoring, control and management of optical networks
  • Zero-touch network and Service Management (ZSM) for optical networks and interfaces
  • Network reliability, survivability, security and disaster recovery

SC11: Quantum technologies, systems and networks

  • Quantum optics and quantum communication
  • Quantum nanophotonics
  • Quantum interfaces
  • Coherent transfer from the optical to the microwave domain
  • Quantum memories for photons
  • Quantum networks architecture, switching, routing and protocols
  • Quantum light sources and detectors
  • Theory of quantum communication systems
  • Use case and demonstration of quantum communication systems
  • Quantum cryptography lab/field demonstration
  • Quantum computing interconnect
  • Quantum repeaters
  • Co-existence of quantum and classical network
  • Quantum Internet architecture