Telecommunications, Optics & Photonics Conference 2024 21-22 February 2024, London, UK
Conference Programme
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Welcome
Contents
On behalf of the TOP 2024 co-chairs and our eight-strong technical programme committee, I’d like to welcome all delegates to the third Telecommunications, Optics and Photonics Conference (TOP 2024) to be held in The City of London, Feb 21-22, 2024. In organising the TOP Conference our aim is to continue to bring together our local telecommunications, optics, and photonics community in a compact, face-to-face meeting held in our fantastic global city, to exchange news and ideas in the traditional way, enabling plentiful in-person networking, while hearing about some of the latest, exciting advances in our field. We were delighted with the response to our first two events in 2022/23, and we’re really looking forward to a great kick-off event to 2024 in the UK for our TOP community, following a highly successful ECOC 2023 last October in Glasgow. We are delighted with the shape of the TOP 2024 technical programme which ranges from well-established topic areas in telecommunications, photonics components, data centres and radio access networks, to new frontiers in free-space optics and quantum communications. We encourage you to check out the TOP programme to view the range of plenary, invited, contributed and poster presentations, which include an inspiring mix of industry and academic speakers, from the UK, Europe, Asia, and the USA. Please note, while the mornings are single-session with two 45-minute plenary talks, followed by our now-traditional, interactive, workshop-style panel sessions, the afternoons comprise two parallel technical sessions, reflecting the strong growth of our forum this year. Presentations will be recorded, so that delegates can view the alternate technical session at their leisure after the meeting . We’re thrilled to kick off each day of the conference with two highly topical plenary presentations: on Day 1, from Dr Harald Bock of Infinera, Germany and Dr Ben Puttnam of NICT, Japan, and on Day 2, from Prof Graham Reed of Southampton University and Prof Dominic O’Brien of Oxford University . On Day 1, the panel session will be led by a team from the UK Telecoms Innovation Network (UKTIN) with the latest on their activities, focus areas, an update on the work of the expert panel in optical communications, and opportunity to comment and feed into their work. On Day 2, the expert panel session will be
General Information
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Timetable Abstracts
6 - 7
8 - 13 14 - 17 18 - 23 24 - 25
Poster Session Abstracts
Speaker Biographies
Exhibitors
Sponsors and Partners
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led by Dr Jose Pozo, CTO of Optica, who will focus the discussion on future opportunities for photonic integration in the UK, asking the question “Could the UK stand up an industrial-scale semiconductor fab for future optical and quantum networks?”. In between sessions, apart from great-quality refreshments and personal networking, there will be opportunities to view the poster presentations, previews of which are available online, and to visit our expanded table-top exhibition, details also available online.
We look forward to offering you a warm welcome to London for what we anticipate will be a great start to 2024. See you there.
Wladek (on behalf of the TOP TPC 2024)
James Regan, Oriole Networks
Wladek Forysiak Aston University
Andrew Lord BT
Welcome from our headline sponsor: UKTIN
Dear attendees and delegates,
communications will influence future mobile network architectures and drive increased performance capability across the emerging telecoms landscape. We see building optical networks at the level of physical fibre interconnectivity, with switching, routing and processing as an important aspect of future networks, both in the ground and the space.
On behalf of myself and the team behind the UK Telecoms Innovation Network (UKTIN), I would like to welcome you to TOP 2024.
As the innovation network for the UK telecoms sector, UKTIN is focused on bringing together industry, academia, and government to catalyse telecoms R&D investment, cooperation, and commercialisation. It’s a pleasure to be involved and see so many experts in optical communications coming together to meet, share ideas, discuss trends, learn and do business.
Optical networking is key for enabling sustainable, high capacity and scalable telecoms infrastructure and services- I hope you enjoy the event and it enables you to take the industry forward into the future.
Nick Johnson Head of UKTIN
At UKTIN, optical fibre and photonic technologies are core part of our future capabilities work, as we explore the ways in which optical
TOP Conference 2024 is organised by Nexus Media Events Ltd Suite 3, Building 30, Churchill Square, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4YU United Kingdom t: +44 (0) 1732 752 125
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GENERAL INFORMATION
Admission Only TOP Conference 2024 delegates in possession of the official delegate badge will be admitted into the conference. Conference Opening Times Wednesday 21st 08:30-17:30 Thursday 22nd 08:30-17:30
Copyright Protection As organisers we take a very strong view on Copyright infringement; any person reported infringing these rights will be immediately ejected from the conference. If a successful prosecution is brought by the affected company, a further ban would be imposed on the prosecuted person from attending future TOP Conference events. Children No person under the age of 18 years can be admitted to the conference. This rule also applies to the delegates children. The organisers have a right to enforce it to comply with the safety regulations of the conference.
Cloakroom opening times Wednesday 21st 08:00 - 17:30 Thursday 22nd 08:00 - 17:30
FREE
Network: etcvenues Password: stayconnected
WIFI
Photography and videotaping Photography and videotaping is prohibited within the conference. Smoking & Drugs Smoking and drug taking are strictly prohibited inside the venue premises AT ALL TIMES. Lunch and Refreshments On arrival delegates can enjoy an energiser breakfast (selection of mini pastries, platter of charcuterie and breakfast cheeses, muesli and granolas, selection of yogurts, warm porridge, seasonal fruit and fruit juices) and a buffet lunch will be provided.
There will be free WiFi access available in the conference. Please note this will only be suitable for browsing the internet and is not suitable for downloading or streaming Most mobile devices and laptops will be able to access the free WiFi service but we cannot guarantee access as it is dependent on the software that is installed on your portable device.
Unlimited Lavazza Coffee, Taylor’s English Tea and Herbal Tea will be available throughout the day
Poster Sessions
Poster presenters will display their posters in the poster hall during the conference and will be available in-person to answer questions and discuss their research during designated presentation times. Delegates can also watch poster preview videos for each poster, by
using a mobile phone to scan the QR code associated with each poster. There will be an award for the Best Poster, the winner will be announced during the afternoon coffee break / drinks reception on Thursday 22nd February.
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Meet the TOP Technical Programme Committee Wladek is a Professor and Deputy Director of AIPT at Aston University. He holds a PhD in laser
Fotini Karinou is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft, where she focuses on developing innovative optical technologies for next- generation cloud computing systems and
Lakshmi Rajagopal is a Marie Curie fellowship based Early-Stage Researcher, pursuing my PhD with BT and University of Birmingham on the “Application of highly precise optical
physics and has a research background in nonlinear photonics and high speed optical fibre
communication systems. He was a co-founder of Marconi Solstis in 2000, and spent 15 years in WDM system related product development with Marconi, Ericsson, and Oclaro. A Royal Society Industry Fellow from 2012-16, he was awarded a 5-year EPSRC Manufacturing Fellowship at Aston University in 2015, and is presently the EFFECT Photonics / Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Highly Integrated Coherent optical fibre Communications. His current research interests are in wideband optical fibre communication systems, optical devices and subsystems, and the impact and mitigation of device and fibre nonlinearities.
networks. Prior to her role at Microsoft, she served as a Senior R&D Engineer at Huawei Technologies Ltd in the Optical & Quantum Laboratory at the German Research Centre in Munich. There, her work centered on optical transmission systems and networks, encompassing high-capacity optical interconnects for datacom, metro/access networks, long-haul coherent systems, and quantum communications. She earned the Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2007 and the PhD in optical communications with a focus on spectrally efficient WDM optical interconnect networks with advanced modulation formats in 2012, from the University of Patras, Greece.
clocks in a telecom network”. Telecom networks need high level of accuracy and synchronization to work effectively. Currently, this is achieved with the help of satellite-based technologies. The next generation of telecom network require precision and stability than ever before, and this is easily achieved in the lab with an optical atomic clock. The challenge is on how to bring this technology out of the lab and utilize it in our telecom infrastructure.
Anastasiia Vasylchenkova is a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow in Optical Networks Group at University College London, running a research project on the analytical modelling of
Andrew joined BT in 1985 after a BA in Physics from Oxford University. He has helped design a wide range of optical network systems and technologies, including long haul subsea and terrestrial DWDM
Martin P.J. Lavery is a Full Professor and leader of the Structured Photonics Research Group at the University of Glasgow. He works on applying novel physical phenomena to industry inspired
ultrawideband optical communication. She received my BSc and MSc in nuclear physics from the Kharkiv National University, Ukraine in 2014 and 2016, respectively. and received a PhD degree from Aston University, Birmingham, UK, for developing the nonlinear Fourier transform approach for optical communications. Anastasiia is currently a Publicity Officer of the IEEE Photonics UK and Ireland Photonics Chapter,
networks. He has been responsible for optical fibre and systems specifications. He currently leads BT’s optical research including optical access, high speed transmission and quantum communications. He has recently initiated BT’s quantum research, with applications in areas such as secure communications, timing and sensing. He regularly speaks at conferences, sits on several organising committees, including ECOC and was Technical Program Chair for OFC 2015 and General Chair for OFC 2017. He was TPC co-chair of ECOC 2023. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Optical Communications and Networking, He is Visiting Professor at Essex University, Fellow of the IEEE and a BT Distinguished Engineer. more than 30 years’ experience leading businesses in the optical communications industry and creating companies out of university research. As CEO and co-founder of recent spin-out Oriole Networks he leads one of the UK’s few system-level optical networking companies. He previously created and led spin-outs EFFECT Photonics and Venture Photonics and built successful businesses within Agility communications and Nortel Networks. He has led businesses in highspeed transmission, photonic integration, optical amplification, photonic switching and optical components and modules. James Regan, CEO Oriole Networks James is a physicist with
engineering challenges, leading research programs in developing high capacity free-space communication systems that incorporate space division multiplexing, investigating propagation dynamics of structured light in turbulent environments, solar collection optics, and acoustic wavefront shapers. He is currently the coordinator for the EU project SuperPixels, utilizing integrated photonics for sensing and communications applications, and PI on the EPSRC project Pon-HD, developing technologies for cable free passive optical networking, and has been given various awards including Scopus Young Scientist of the Year for Physical Sciences and the Royal Academy of Edinburgh Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane Medal.. electronics and communication engineering from BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, in2011, and the M.Eng. degree in telecommunications from American International University Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2013. She also received her Ph.D. in 2019 from School of Engineering, University of Kent, Canterbury, U.K., before working there as a research associate. She is currently a research associate for the All-Raman optical amplification for next Generation ultra-wideband Optical Networks (ARGON) project at Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies, Aston University, Birmingham, U.K. Her research interests include Ultra-Wideband (UWB) systems and amplification technologies, signal processing for communications and multiplexing techniques for 5G (and beyond) mobile fronthaul. Shabnam Noor received the B.Sc. degree in
and a Chair of the OPTICA Optical Communication Technical Group.
Dr Mary Elizabeth McCarthy (she/her) works as Design Authority for Digital Coherent Optical modules in Lumentum
(previously Oclaro). Previous experience includes post-doctoral research at Aston University (UK) on optical signal processing to counteract nonlinear transmission impairments in large bandwidth, complex modulation format systems. She has worked for Ericsson in UK and Australia on design, implementation and customer compliance of long haul and metro transport platforms. She completed her PhD in digital chromatic dispersion compensation in Tyndall institute (IRL) in 2009.
Mingming (Tommy) Tan is a Research Fellow at Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies (AiPT), Aston University. In his research, he focuses on optical communications, Raman
amplification, and Raman fibre laser. He has published 111 papers in leading journals and international conferences. He is currently managing three research projects funded by the Royal Society (as PI) and EPSRC (as Researcher- Co-I) by collaborating with leading researchers in the UK, US, Japan, and China.
Cathy White is a researcher at British Telecom who is working on integrating and downstreaming quantum information technology for industrial applications. She has studied electronics, physics and quantum
physics, and she worked in a variety of different technical roles in software and instrumentation before joining BT in 2011.
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Timetable - Wednesday 21st February
08:30 09:00 REGISTRATION AND COFFEE
Title
Speaker
Start
Finish
09:00 09:45
Plenary
Harald Bock (Infinera)
09:45 10:30
Plenary
Ben Puttnam (NICT)
10:30 11:00 COFFEE BREAK AND POSTER SESSIONS
11:00 12:30 UKTIN Session
- General introduction to UKTIN - Presentation of the Optical Comms EWG findings - Panel: The role of optical and photonics across the broader telecoms ecosystem
Dimitra Simeonidou (University of Bristol) Nick Parsons (HUBER+SUHNER) Simon Saunders (Chair Wireless EWG), Neil McRae (Chair Core Networking EWG), Andy Sellars (Co-Chair Semiconductors EWG) Nick Parsons (Chair Optical Comms EWG),
12:30 12:40
Low-Loss Photonic Wire Bonds and Facet-Attached Micro- Optical Elements: from Telecom to Quantum Applications
Sebastian Skacel (Vanguard Automation GmbH)
12:40 13:10 POSTER SESSIONS AND EXHIBITION TIME
13:10 13:45 LUNCH STREAM 1: Telecommunications Start Finish Title
STREAM 2: Quantum Communications Start Finish Title Speaker 13:45 14:15 Building quantum-safe networks with Symmetric Key Distribution
Speaker
Melchior Aelmans (Juniper Networks)
13:45 14:15
Optical communications – The future is bright Experimentation enabled by the National Dark Fibre Facility
Joerg-Peter Elbers (Adtran)
14:15 14:45
Martyn Fice (University
14:15 14:45
Intra-city quantum networks and Inter-City satellite QKD Characterisation of Faint- Pulse-Sources for QKD An Integrated Fibre and Satellite QKD Network Optimisation
Siddarth Joshi (University of Bristol) Peter Schlosser (Fraunhofer UK) Vasileios Karavias (University of Cambridge)
College London)
14:45 15:15
Integrating Hollow Core fibres with SMFs
Prof. Radan Slavik
14:45 15:00
(University of Southampton)
15:00 15:15
15:15 15:45 COFFEE BREAK / DRINKS RECEPTION, POSTER SESSIONS & EXHIBITION TIME
STREAM 3: Photonic Components Start Finish Title
STREAM 4: Free Space Optics Start Finish Title
Speaker
Speaker
15:45 16:15
15:45 16:15
Pump Lasers for Optical Amplification in Telecommunication Network Design, Reliability and Applications Components for – and system demonstrations using spatial division multiplexing
Nadhum Zayer (Coherent)
Noise-robust transport and manipulation of photonic spatial mode entanglement Toward Wide-Field- of-View and Large Area Optical Detectors
Mehul Malik (Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh) Abderrahmen Trichili (University of Oxford)
16:15 16:45
16:15 16:45
Prof. Georg Rademacher (University of Stuttgart) Andy Reid (University of Bristol)
for High-Speed Optical Wireless Communication
16:45 17:00
How Does Optical Networking Fit in Telecoms Network Architecture
16:45 17:15
A micromirror array- based streak camera for multi-channel, multi- spectral LIDAR.
David Benton (Aston University)
17:00 17:15
Very Small Fibre Optic Interconnect Solutions Supporting the Exponential Bandwidth Demand
Philip Ward (Senko)
17:20
CLOSE
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Timetable - Thursday 22nd February
08:30 09:00 REGISTRATION AND COFFEE
Title
Speaker
Start
Finish
09:00 09:45
Plenary
Graham Reed (University of Southampton)
09:45 10:30
Plenary
Prof. Dominic O’Brien (University of Oxford)
10:30 11:00 COFFEE BREAK AND POSTER SESSIONS
11:00 12:30 Panel Discussion:
Could the UK stand up an industrial-scale semiconductor fab for future optical and quantum networks?
Chair: Jose Pozo (Optica) James Regan (Oriole Networks) Ning Zhang (CSA Catapult) Mike Wale (UCL) Iain Mauchline (Innovate UK)
12:30 13:10 POSTER SESSIONS AND EXHIBITION TIME
13:10 13:45 LUNCH
STREAM 6: Telecoms/Photonics for RAN Start Finish Title Speaker 13:45 14:15 Long-haul core networks: Future needs Lidia Galdino (Corning)
STREAM 5: Data Centres Start Finish Title
Speaker
13:45 14:15
Cloud-scale archival data storage using ultrafast lasers Optical Networks for ML Systems
Patrick Anderson (Microsoft)
for cable density and high fiber count cables Optical fibre fronthaul for the disaggregated 6G RAN Fixed access evolution towards 6G networks
14:15 14:45
George Zervas (University College London)
14:15 14:45
Nathan Gomes (University College London)
14:45 15:15
Application of Photonic Crystal Surface Emitting
Richard Hogg (Aston University)
14:45 15:15
Dr. Maxim Kuschnerov (Huawei)
Lasers in Optical Communications
COFFEE BREAK / DRINKS RECEPTION, POSTER SESSIONS & EXHIBITION TIME POSTER WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT
15:15 15:45
STREAM 8: Telecommunications / Free Space Optics Start Finish Title
STREAM 7: Network Planning Start Finish Title
Speaker
Speaker
15:45 16:15
15:45 16:15
Versatile Optical Network Planning
Andre Richter (VPIphotonics)
Heterogeneous Integration and Silicon Photonics: Enabling Optics at Scale Fibre optical parametric amplifiers for optical communications Mode division multiplexing technology: from ground to space 3.52 Tbps Dynamic Demultiplexing of Low- loss Spatial Modes in Strong Turbulence Using Reconfigurable Photonics
Steve Alleston (OpenLight Photonics)
16:15 16:45
AI Carbon footprint: how to design low complexity and sustainable ai tools Modeling, Processing and Detection of Optical Signals in Advanced Communication Systems GPU-Accelerated Framework for Optical Communication System Design and Analysis
Pedro Freire (Aston University)
16:15 16:45
Vladimir Gordienko (Aston University)
16:45 17:00
Tianhua Xu (University of Warwick)
16:45 17:00
Dr. Feng Wen (UESTC)
17:00 17:15
Ultan Daly (University of Glasgow)
17:00 17:15
Egor Sedov (Aston University)
17:20
CLOSE
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Abstracts
STREAM 1: Telecommunications Wednesday 13:30 -15:00
PANEL SESSION: UKTIN Wednesday 11:00 - 12:30
Session Chair: Mingming Tan, Research Fellow, Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies, Aston University
This session will introduce the UK Telecoms Innovation Network (UKTIN: https://uktin.net) to the TOP audience. The session will also present the foresight work carried out by the Optical Communications Experts Working Group (EWG) within UKTIN and will debate interdependencies with other key technology domains in delivering future network solutions. 11:00 - 11:15 General introduction to UKTIN – Dimitra Simeonidou (University of Bristol) 11:15 - 11:45 Presentation of the Optical Comms EWG findings – Nick Parsons (HUBER+SUHNER) 11:45 - 12:30 Panel: The role of optical and photonics across the broader telecoms ecosystem
Optical Communications – The future is bright Joerg-Peter Elbers, Adtran
Optics and photonics have revolutionized telecommunications. Starting with an analysis of past successes, this talk will explore future challenges and opportunities in delivering broadband fiber connectivity – from the core through the door.
Panel speakers:
Experimentation enabled by the National Dark Fibre Facility Martyn Fice, UCL The National Dark Fibre Facility (NDFF) is a UKRI-EPSRC National Research Facility which provides researchers with access to a dedicated software-defined optical fibre network at the physical layer. Since being established in 2014, NDFF has supported research in a diverse range of areas, including quantum key distribution, quantum networks, 5G/6G wireless, optimisation of WDM systems using machine learning, time and frequency distribution, and virtual reality research. In this presentation, the capabilities provided by NDFF will be summarised and some examples of recent experiments carried out by users of the facility will be described.
Chair: Dimitra Simeonidou (UKTIN Founding Partner)
Nick Parsons (Chair Optical Comms EWG)
Simon Saunders (Chair Wireless EWG)
Neil McRae (Chair Core Networking EWG)
Andy Sellars (Co-Chair Semiconductors EWG)
Integrating Hollow Core fibres with SMFs
Radan Slavik, Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton Thanks to a strong suppression of light-glass interaction, hollow core fibres (HCFs) have many unique properties as compared to standard single-mode fibres (SMFs). These include low nonlinearity in combination with low attenuation
Wednesday 12:30 -12:40 Low-Loss Photonic Wire Bonds and Facet-Attached Micro-Optical Elements: from Telecom to Quantum Applications Dr. Sebastian Skacel Vanguard Automation GmbH, Germany
and chromatic dispersion even at wavelengths outside 1550 nm telecom band. They also enable inserting of custom gases and liquids into the light path, of interest in sensors, gas cells, and nonlinear optics. Their design and manufacturing process have been maturing recently, making them of interest in a wide range of applications. We expect that many future fibre systems will be hybrid, including both, SMFs and HCFs. This will be initially to integrate HCFs into existing SMF systems or in the future to benefit from advantages of both fibre types. We will discuss current state-of-the art in interconnecting HCFs and SMFs, covering all important aspects such as insertion loss, back-reflection, suppression of multi-path interference, and robustness.
Photonic wire bonding allows to combine the complementary strengths of different optical integration platforms in advanced photonic multi-chip modules leading to compactness with high performance and great design flexibility. The
technique relies on highly precise direct-write 3D laser lithography for printing of freeform single-mode waveguides between optical dies, thereby offering a path towards fully automated mass production without the need for active alignment. 3D nano-printing can also be used to fabricate facet-attached beam-shaping elements on optical chips and fibers, allowing for low-loss coupling with high alignment tolerance and for wafer-level probing of optical devices.
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Abstracts
STREAM 2: Quantum Communication Wednesday 13:30 -15:00 Session Chair: Cathy White, Researcher, BT
Intra-city quantum networks and Inter-city satellite QKD Siddarth Joshi, Bristol University
Arbitrary quantum states cannot be perfectly copied. On one hand this is great news because we can use this to obtain mathematically perfect security for communications, on the other it makes overcoming loss and networking a monumental task. In this talk I will cover efforts to
build scalable Quantum Local Area Networks and long distance links via satellite. I will introduce both the ongoing efforts with wavelength multiplexed entanglement distribution networks and discrete variable QKD part of the UK national quantum communication satellite – the SPOQC mission.
Building quantum-safe networks with Symmetric Key Distribution
Melchior Aelmans, Juniper Networks Introducing an approach to symmetric key distribution that enables robust, scalable, and future-proofed security without reliance on asymmetric encryption, both with and without the need for QKD.
Characterisation of Faint-Pulse-Sources for QKD Peter J. Schlosser, Fraunhofer UK Research Ltd.
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is the method of secure sharing of encryption keys between two end users by the application of quantum technology. Satellite based; free space quantum key distribution has the potential to provide the
We will highlight our recent trials of QKD with L2 (MACSEC) and L3 (IPSEC) encryption, including the Juniper QuTech QKD trial and provide a technical overview of the QuTech approach to QKD. Symmetric Key Distribution can be proved to achieve information- theoretical security, and a very high level of scalability. Other advantages include computational efficiency and potentially the limited amount of code needed to implement, reducing the surface attack. Symmetric Key Distribution system can be used in situations where asymmetric cryptographic schemes are not suitable, for example: • Quantum-secure communication, including government communication, national security systems and critical infrastructure, which may have security requirements that asymmetric cryptographic schemes cannot deliver. The US National Security Agency recommends the use of symmetric Pre-Shared Keys (PSKs) instead of or in addition to asymmetric public/private key pairs to provide quantum-resistant cryptography. • Large meshed networks, where the use of IKE and PKI can become a computational bottleneck, or can require the management of a large number of certificates, which increase network complexity and reduce scalability. Such networks include large meshed SD-WAN and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routers, among others. • Cross domain communication, where a single authority or service provider (like a CA) can not be fully trusted. Instead, multiple parties can establish their own infrastructure in which the trust is distributed among them. • Constrained devices, where key establishment via asymmetric cryptographic schemes is challenging due to the high computational requirements. Examples of these networks include sensor networks.
means of transmitting secure keys between end users across the globe and overcome limitations posed by fibre-optic based system designs. An important challenge in free space QKD is the availability of suitable transmitter devices with a low size, weight, power consumption and cost. In this work, we are looking at alternative light sources for the use in transmitter modules. Commercially available VCSEL devices are being investigated as directly modulated faint-pulse-sources to determine important parameters, such as spectral, polarisation, power, bandwidth and pulse-to-pulse performance, that are key for QKD applications.
An Integrated Fibre and Satellite QKD Network Optimisation
Vasileios Karavias, University of Cambridge Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) promises information theoretic security. Limitations on fibre based QKD mean long distance QKD necessary for global Quantum Networks is currently only possible using satellites. We construct Mixed Integer Linear Program models to investigate how
to best connect the core fibre network to ground stations to minimise the overall network cost. We use the models designed to investigate how different allocation strategies to ground stations changes the number of satellites needed to satisfy transmission requirements showing that appropriate allocation strategies can yield a reduction of over 40% in the number of satellites. Furthermore, we use these models to investigate securing the Data Centre traffic in 2 networks, one European and one Global. We show that optimally configuring the core sites to ground stations can reduce the cost of the network by up to 40% compared to simply connecting the core sites to their geographically nearest ground station.
• Cloud authentication services.
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Abstracts
STREAM 3: Photonic Components Wednesday 15:45 -17:15
Very Small Fibre Optic Interconnect Solutions Supporting the Exponential Bandwidth Demand
Philip Ward, SENKO Advanced Components Not only because of the data traffic bandwidth increase but also with the adoption of artificial intelligence and machine learning, the use and demand of fibre optics in data centres is increasing exponentially. . In this presentation, Tiger Ninomiya will provide a density and size study addressing
Session Chair: Mary McCarthy Design Authority for Digital Coherent Optical modules, Lumentum
fibre optic connectivity options, very mallsmall form factor (VSFF) connectors to increase the density of the footprint at the pluggable transceiver level, and the faceplate design of co-packaged optics and metallic PIC connector to achieve a compact package design for the fibre-to-chip coupling in CPO applications where size constraints are paramount to meet and exceed emerging technology barriers.
Pump Lasers for Optical Amplification in Telecommunication Network Design, Reliability and Applications Nadhum Zayer, Coherent
Optical communication networks have been enabled by the development of the in-fibre optical amplifier. There are many ways of generating signal amplification within the optical fibre network such as using doped fibre amplifiers (erbium for example) or Raman effect
STREAM 4: Free Space Optics Wednesday 15:45 -17:15
Session Chair: Vladimir Gordienko, Aston University
amplification. Pump lasers are a fundamental part of in-fibre optical amplifier designs. This invited talk covers design, development, reliability, and manufacturing of pump lasers required for in-fibre amplifiers. The application and the requirements for the pump lasers in terrestrial, under-sea and space deployments are discussed and compared. Components for – and system demonstrations using spatial division multiplexing Georg Rademacher, University of Stuttgart Space-division multiplexing (SDM) offers a fibers, including multi-mode and multi-core fibers. Each SDM fiber requires a specific eco-system of devices and algorithms to harvest the full potential that each technology offers, including spatial multiplexers, optical fibers but also receivers and digital signal processors to undo coupling between spatial paths, introduced during transmission. Recently, SDM fibers that conform with the current industry standard for the cladding diameter of 125 µm have been intensively investigated. To reach peta-bit/s transmission in standard-cladding diameter fibers, strongly-coupled spatial channels, such as in randomly coupled multi-core fibers or multi-mode fibers are needed. In this talk, we will review key components and technologies required to implement SDM transmission in multi-mode and multi-core fibers. tremendous potential for high speed optical fiber communications systems by leveraging parallel transmission paths in optical fibers to transmit independent data signals. SDM transmission has been demonstrated using various kinds of optical
Noise-robust transport and manipulation of photonic spatial mode entanglement
Mehul Malik, Heriot-Watt University Quantum states of light entangled in high dimensions offer the potential for noise-robust quantum communication networks that harness the full information carrying capacity of a photon. A central challenge in the realisation of such networks is the ability to precisely control
and reliably transport high-dimensional entangled states of light. In this talk, I will discuss the generation of high-dimensional “pixel” entanglement with fidelities exceeding 94% and entanglement dimensionalities up to 55. I will then present an experiment on the transport of entanglement through extreme regimes of noise and loss corresponding to 79km of optical fibre. Finally, I will discuss the manipulation of high-dimensional quantum states of light achieved via the inverse-design of programmable quantum circuits inside a commercial multi-mode fibre.
Toward Wide-Field-of-View and Large Area Optical Detectors for High-Speed Optical Wireless Communication
How Does Optical Networking Fit in Telecoms Network Architecture
Andy Reid, Smart Internet Lab, University of Bristol
Abderrahmen Trichili, University of Oxford Optical wireless communication (OWC) is able to provide high-throughput connectivity for 6G networks and beyond. A major limiting factor of the wide-scale deployment of OWC is the limited field of view (FoV) and small active areas of high- speed receivers, which derives strict pointing,
The opportunity for transparent optical networking (whether based on networked WDM, some form of optical burst solution, or a mixture of the two) is squeezed by the low cost of additional by-pass fibre strands below and
the low cost of electronic packet switching above. For many network planners, this issue is not always helped by academic work which tends to oversimply network scenarios which means it is hard to translate academic results into realistic network solutions. This presentation sets out an analysis and optimisation framework which takes into consideration sufficient of the real-world constraints faced by network planners to give realistic and implementable solutions and is general such that it can represent a wide variety of operators’ networks. Using this framework, the presentation then reports on the opportunity for optical networking with the technical and commercial parameters which would make optical switching technology attractive to network planners.
acquisition, and tracking (PAT) requirements. This talk highlights the potential of designing large-area detectors with extended FoVs to ease PAT requirements for OWC systems.
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Abstracts
STREAM 5: Data Centres Thursday 13:30 -15:00
A micromirror array- based streak camera for multi- channel, multi-spectral LIDAR David Benton, Senior research fellow, Aston University
Session Chair: Fotini Karinoui, Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research
Micromirror arrays have found extensive use as spatial light modulators in consumer electronics within digital projectors. An underused quality of these devices is the speed with which they switch between binary positions of -12 degrees
and + 12 degrees. With a simple camera we can make use of the transition between states to access temporal dispersion resulting in a novel LIDAR concept. In addition, the diffractive nature of the device enables simultaneous spectral dispersion to be obtained making the LIDAR multispectral. The free space nature of the device further enables separate input channels to be imaged thus multiple independent multispectral LIDARs can be interrogated in parallel. In this talk multiple lasers of different wavelengths have been used to demonstrate all these concepts with a result of temporal resolution 5 orders of magnitude faster than the device operating timescales. PANEL SESSION: Could the UK stand up an industrial- scale semiconductor fab for future optical and quantum networks? Thursday 11:00 - 12:30 The demand for photonic integration is likely to grow exponentially with a plethora of use cases from high speed transport, intra-Data Centre to more esoteric applications including quantum: With many of the industrial scale semiconductor fabrication capabilities being hosted in the Far East, what is the opportunity in the UK? Would the start-up costs to build UK based fabs be simply too prohibitive? Is there a niche middle way, for example focusing on compound materials? Our expert and widely experienced panellists will explore the art of the possible and aim to produce concrete recommendations in this vital area for future growth.
Cloud-scale archival data storage using ultrafast lasers Patrick Anderson, Microsoft Research
Recent advancements in ultrafast laser technology and material processing techniques have led to the realization of high-density data storage in fused silica. The exceptional properties of this storage media, combined with our clean-slate approach to designing and engineering systems
could revolutionize archival cloud storage. In this talk I will describe the motivation for our work, before giving insight into how ultrafast laser pulses can interact with materials to form intricate polarization sensitive nanostructures – the properties of which can be interrogated via high-resolution polarization microscopy.
Optical Networks for ML Systems George Zervas, UCL
Developing network solutions for ML systems is a multi-dimensional problem. The talk will cover the requirements, challenges and opportunities of optical networks for Machine Learning Systems. I will briefly delve into the role and dependencies between optical switching technologies, topologies and system architectures, control, and collective operations to ML training.
Application of Photonic Crystal Surface Emitting Lasers in Optical Communications Richard Hogg, Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies
Panel speakers:
The photonic crystal surface emitting laser (PCSEL) is emerging as a new class of laser diode. Feedback is obtained through a large two-dimensional 2nd order photonic crystal layer close to the intrinsic region of the laser diode.
By contrast to Fabry-Perot, VCSEL, and DFB geometries, where gain, feedback, and emission are co-axial, the PCSEL has in-plane gain and feedback, yet out-of-plane emission. This results in a different set of device design trade-offs, and offers surface emission at essentially any wavelength served by edge-emitting lasers. Many of the benefits of edge emitting and surface emitting lasers can be combined. I will explore recent developments in GaAs (~1um) and InP-based PCSELs (1.3 and 1.55um), focussing on possible future applications in optical communications. The opportunities for amplitude and frequency modulation, and high power single-mode emission will be outlined. Future challenges for the technology will be discussed that need to be addressed to allow this novel component to reach its full potential.
Chair: Jose Pozo (Optica)
James Regan (Oriole Networks)
Michael Wale (UCL)
Ning Zhang (CSA Catapult)
Iain Mauchline (Innovate UK)
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Abstracts
STREAM 6: Telecoms / Photonics for RAN Thursday 13:30 -15:00 Session Chair: Shabnam Noor, Research Associate, Aston University
STREAM 7: Network Planning Thursday 15:45 -17:15
Session Chair: Mingming Tan, Research Fellow, Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies, Aston University
Long-haul core networks: Future needs for cable density and high fiber count cables Lidia Galdino, Corning
Versatile Optical Network Planning
André Richter, VPIphotonics Planning today’s and future optical networks requires versatile, powerful, and flexible network planning tools, which capture network
Over the last five years, long-haul core network traffic has seen a compound annual growth rate of 30%. This unabated network traffic growth is accommodated by both high-capacity fiber services (enabled by innovations in coherent transponder technology) and new
infrastructure and equipment information, support and automatize design tasks, and compare and archive found solutions. They should support a vendor- and technology-agnostic approach to equipment modeling and performance assessment, which permits fast and efficient configuration of scalable networks, accounts for traffic demands, and optimizes spectrum utilization and equipment cost. We present the general concept of such a tool and highlight its operation by addressing several planning scenarios. We discuss a multi-band, multi-span DWDM network accounting for impairments such as ISRS and showcase metro network topologies. In addition, we present a planning approach for incorporating optical satellite networks into existing terrestrial network designs and show how interoperability with numerical system simulations can further enhance the capabilities of such a tool.
fiber deployments. We now have evidence that per-fiber capacity is approaching the Shannon limit – the maximum rate at which data can be reliably transmitted – leaving little room for further capacity improvements. Under this scenario, optical fiber has a prominent role in maintaining the core network capacity growth rate. Given this challenge, we evaluated the future needs for long-haul cable density and high fiber count cables.
Optical fibre fronthaul for the disaggregated 6G RAN Nathan Gomes, UCL
Radio access network (RAN) disaggregation is viewed as essential for meeting the bit-rate, spectral efficiency, user density and energy efficiency demands of future mobile networks. However, demands are then placed on the latency and bit-rate requirements of the fronthaul links
AI Carbon footprint: how to design low complexity and sustainable ai tools Pedro Freire, Aston University
which connect the disaggregated remote radio units to the more centralised functional units (usually termed distributed and central units). Optical fibre communications can meet such demands, but with the links becoming increasingly widespread as future mobile systems are deployed, the use of low-cost technology will be essential. Further, as 6th generation (6G) mobile networks target energy efficiency improvements of two orders of magnitude, the energy consumption of the fronthaul will become a key consideration. A fronthaul transmission system which can respond to demand, reducing its line rate and its energy consumption when the mobile traffic is lower, can play an important role in overall energy efficiency strategies.
This presentation delves into the intricacies of developing low-complexity neural network-based equalizers tailored for optical communications. It explores innovative strategies to overcome challenges encountered in the realms of training, inference, and hardware synthesis.
Modeling, Processing and Detection of Optical Signals in Advanced Communication Systems Tianhua Xu, University of Warwick
Fixed access evolution towards 6G networks
Fiber and wireless optic communications have played significant roles in increasing the data capacity of modern transmission systems. Laser and channel nonlinear distortions in optical fiber systems and the inter-symbol-interference and the time-varying channel impulse response
Maxim Kuschnerov, Huawei Technologies The arrival of 6G wireless will transform fixed access networks and its architecture similarly to 5G. We will analyze the implications of 6G on optical fiber access and discuss the joint evolution of wireless, residential and private line access as well the changing drivers for the bandwidth
in optical wireless communication systems have deteriorated the detection and the demodulation of transmitted symbols from the received signals in corresponding systems. In this talk, we will discuss the performance of advanced signal processing in mitigating the laser phase noise and the fiber nonlinearities under dispersion-unmanaged and dispersion-managed long-haul optical link conditions. We will also present signal detection schemes in ultra-violet optical wireless communication systems by designing optimal linear and high- dimensional combinations of extracted, signal-related geometrical features.
growth. A technical analysis of different physical layer technologies will be shown and evaluated with respect to their fit into the next generation access evolution.
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Abstracts
GPU-Accelerated Framework for Optical Communication System Design and Analysis Egor Sedov, Aston University
Fibre optical parametric amplifiers for optical communications
Vladimir Gordienko, Aston University Fibre optical parametric amplifiers (FOPA) can advance modern optical communications in many ways owing to their unique features. The FOPAs’ virtually wavelength agnostic operation can complement and provide the required flexibility for emerging multi-band optical communication
The research paper introduces a GPU-accelerated framework for optical communication system simulations, demonstrating its superior performance over traditional CPU-based methods. This framework addresses the growing complexity and computational demands in the field of optical
communication systems, providing a high-performance software solution tailored to their unique requirements. The key benefits of using GPU- based implementations include inherent parallelism, scalability, power efficiency, and the ability to handle large-scale matrix operations, vector manipulations, or Fourier transforms efficiently. The framework, built on TensorFlow and Python, is compatible with MATLAB and includes telecommunication components like the transmitter, optical channel model, receiver, and metrics evaluation block. It utilizes GPU-accelerated Split-Step Fourier Method (SSFM) implementations for efficient and accurate simulation of optical communication systems, supporting various configurations and customizations. Performance evaluation showed significant speedup with GPU, especially for larger problem sizes, enabling researchers to rapidly test hypotheses, iterate on designs, and explore a wider range of scenarios. STREAM 8: Telecoms / Free Space Optics Thursday 15:45 -17:15 Session Chair: Shabnam Noor, Research Associate, Aston University
systems, the hollow-core fibres revolution and free-space optical communications. The FOPAs’ ability for noiseless amplification can be advantageous for low signal-to-noise ratio applications. The FOPAs’ employment for all-optical wavelength conversion can pave the way for flexible and elastic optical networks. The FOPAs’ instantaneous response time is useful for ultrafast and transient-free applications. However, there are many challenges towards realisation of the FOPAs’ potential. In this talk I will review our latest achievements in the FOPAs research.
Mode division multiplexing technology: from ground to space
Feng Wen, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China The mode division multiplexing (MDM) technology is to open up the new dimension of fibers, enabling significantly increasing the capacity of optical fiber communication systems from the space domain. To implement the MDM
technology in the real transmission systems, the great efforts on the low-complex multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) equalization have been made to reduce the cost of compensation operation for the high-capacity MDM systems. The hybrid algorithms, e.g., the transfer learning (TF), the genetic algorithm (GA) and the ant-colony optimization (ACO) modified MIMO equalizers have dramatically reduced the training cost, up to 100% compared to the conventional scheme. Moreover, the MDM technology is also considered in the free-space transmission scenario, such as the laser satellite communications. The wide-open channel brings the big challenge on the MDM implementation. The equalization algorithm as the powerful solution has been used to mitigate the impacts from the wireless laser channel, improving the transmission performance in the space satellite networks. 3.52 Tbps Dynamic Demultiplexing of Low-loss Spatial Modes in Strong Turbulence Using Reconfigurable Photonics Ultan Daly, University of Glasgow these systems it is critical to exploit several degrees of freedom, including wavelength, polarisation, and space. The spatial modes are acutely affected by atmospheric turbulence, where the challenges in overcoming the effects of the environment have prevented the wide-scale deployment of Spatial Division Multiplexing (SDM) in FSO. We will introduce a reconfigurable Si-photonics device that can continually measure the optical path and create optimised spatial modes that remain orthogonal after propagation, enabling SDM in 1 km channels with high optical turbulence. The device can measure the transmission matrix at kHz frequencies, fast enough to recover real time measurements of the atmospheric channel that can have a coherence time of up-to ~1ms. A singular value decomposition (SVD) is performed on the measured transmission matrix, determining a unique low-loss orthogonal basis for the channel, which is then demultiplexed by the Si-photonics platform. We aggregate 88-DWDM each with a 10 Gbps NRZ signal on 4-SVD channels, a 3.52 Tbps data rate is achieved for a simulated 1 km channel in high turbulence. Free-space optical (FSO) systems can provide high-capacity communication channels for bridging point-to-point links rapidly where fibre connections are unfeasible or for rapidly re-establishing connection in the event of cable breaks. To maximise the data-rate of
Heterogeneous Integration and Silicon Photonics: Enabling Optics at Scale Steve Alleston, OpenLight Photonics
Silicon photonics has emerged as the dominant technology in areas such as datacom and optical computing and is seen as enabling the next generation of AI driven datacenter architectures, quantum computing and machine vision. Despite this promise it is still treated as just one
technology choice amongst many with significant barriers to entry and many technical drawbacks. Heterogeneous integration addresses the material limitations of silicon and has been significant in some areas but to date it has been a proprietary technology and the domain of a select number of companies with large R and D budgets and plenty of patience. Now with the development of open PDKs and the emergence of commercially available reliable design tools from new and established vendors the ecosystem is becoming established to allow photonics to be developed and deployed much more like electronics with both economic and technical benefits.
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