OFC 2020 PREVIEW
SCIENCE AND TECH TAKE THE LEAD OFC 2020
O FC returns to San Diego Convention Centre, San Diego, California, on 8th – 12th March 2020 for another ground- breaking program as the world’s largest conference and exhibition for optical communications and networking. Considered the hub of the industry, OFC represents the entire ecosystem, from research to marketplace, from components to systems and networks, and from technical sessions to the exhibition. More than 15,000 executives, technical experts, academia, media and analysts from 65 countries are expected to converge to discuss the trending topics that are driving innovations in research, technologies and product solutions, including machine learning/artificial intelligence, photonic integrated circuits, advanced digital-signal processing, quantum optics, emerging applications of optical networks in 5G, new computing and data centre technologies. This year’s OFC will celebrate two discoveries that led to the development of practical fibre optical communications: the demonstration of low-loss fibres (16dB/km) and the first room-temperature semiconductor lasers. Activities include a special keynote presented by David Welch, Infinera founder and chief innovation officer, a show-floor exhibit that surveys 50 years of optical fibre milestones, an interactive exhibit highlighting recipients of
the John Tyndall Award and a conference reception on Tuesday, 10th March. Sponsors include Corning, Thorlabs and Inphi. Three world-renowned visionaries will anchor the week-long business and technical conversations and product demos, offering plenary sessions that will explore the future of silica as a pillar of telecommunication technology, the development and realisation of 5G wireless networks, and new horizons in gravitational-wave astrophysics. These visionary speakers include Dr. Qi Bi, president, China Telecom Technology Innovation Centre and CTO, China Telecom Beijing Research Institute; Dr. Karsten Danzmann, Director, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Germany and Sir David Payne, director, Optoelectronics Research Centre Zepler Institute for Photonics and Nanoelectronics, University of Southampton, UK. PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS OFC’s five-day technical program is focused on relating the most recent progress in research (near- and long-term) and technology, and is presented in a variety of formats, including peer-reviewed presentations and more than 120 invited speakers, nine workshops, eight panels, 59 short courses plus show floor programming in three theatres. Additional technical programming throughout the week includes special symposia and the thought-provoking rump session.
OFC 2019 workshop
Special conference programming includes the Symposia, Special Chairs Session, the Open Networking Summit and the Demo Zone. The four symposia will be focused on industry growth segments including emerging network architectures for 5G edge cloud; future photonics devices fj/bit optical networks enabled by emerging optical technologies; Quantum Information Science and Technology (QIST) in the context of optical communications and the role of machine learning for the next-generation of optical communication systems and networks. The Special Chairs Session will reflect on how OFC has led the industry over the last decade and look forward to the next decade. It will seek to answer the key question: what are the emerging hot topics and ground-breaking innovations to be anticipated? The Open Networking Summit will address the issue of whether and how the massive deployment of vertical services over 5G will change the
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| ISSUE 20 | Q1 2020
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