Photonic Networks and Devices (Networks)
Events
Photonic Networks and Devices (Networks)
13 – 17 July 2025
Marseille, France
Photonic devices and networking concepts that drive future network scaling and performance for next-generation applications.
Networks brings together researchers and engineers from various communities that intersect in today's applications that require photonic networks. The new applications and network architectures will both drive and utilize innovations in optical transmission and photonic devices. Growing demands for bandwidth, flexibility, programmability, resilience, security, low cost, high integration, high functionality, energy efficiency and small footprint require novel solutions in photonic networks and devices. New management paradigms in the framework of software-defined networking are needed for efficient and dynamic programmability of virtualized network resources. Meanwhile, the sustainability of optical networks needs to be addressed.
The topical meeting focuses on fostering research that supports the future scaling and performance requirements of emerging applications, including spectrally and spatially multiplexed systems, data centers and data-center interconnections, cloud infrastructure, high-performance computing and content delivery.
Chairs
Marco Ruffini
University of Dublin Trinity College, Ireland,
General Chair
Lena Wosinska
Chalmers Tekniska Högskola, Sweden,
General Chair
Carmen Mas Machuca
Universität der Bundeswehr München, Germany,
Program Chair
Reza Nejabati
Cisco Systems Inc., United States,
Program Chair
Michela Svaluto Moreolo
Centre Tecnològic Telecom de Catalunya, Spain,
Program Chair
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Committee Members
- Marco Ruffini, University of Dublin Trinity College, Ireland, General Chair
- Lena Wosinska, Chalmers Tekniska Högskola, Sweden, General Chair
- Carmen Mas Machuca, Universität der Bundeswehr München, Germany, Program Chair
- Reza Nejabati, Cisco Systems Inc., United States, Program Chair
- Michela Svaluto Moreolo, Centre Tecnològic Telecom de Catalunya, Spain, Program Chair
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Topic Categories
Photonic Networks and Devices (Networks)
- Advanced Optical Networks and Enabling Technologies
- Multi-band and spatial-division multiplexed transmission systems
- Fiber networks for sensing applications
- Optical satellite networks and converged terrestrial/satellite networks
- Photonic integrated switches and neuromorphic photonic systems
- Free-space optical and wireless terahertz communications
- Cost and energy efficient network architectures and technologies
- Programmable optics and advanced transceiver technologies in support of optical networks
- AI for Network and Network for AI
- AI and ML techniques for supporting network control and management
- Optical network interconnected technology for GPU interconnect
- Optical and analogue processing technologies for AI
- Quantum Networks
- Quantum security and quantum key distribution networks
- Integration of quantum and classical networks
- Dynamically switched quantum networks
- Quantum networks for quantum computing interconnects and distributed quantum computing
- Long haul and satellite quantum communication technologies
- Network Design and Operations
- Optical network architectures and protocols, including aspects of energy efficiency
- Optical routers, switches and cross-connects
- Reliability and resilience of optical networks
- Filterless optical networks
- End-to-end converged management, network control and orchestration
- Network performance monitoring and analytics
- Digital twin technology for network automation
- Control of heterogeneous access and metro networks, including analogue RoF transmission
- Technologies for Data Centers and High-performance Computing
- Optical networks for inter-and intra-data center communication
- Disaggregated data center and HPC architectures and protocols
- Resource provisioning for intra- and inter-data centers
- Programmable photonics and photonic devices for data-center networks and computing applications
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Plenary Speakers
Katarzyna Balakier
European Space Agency, United Kingdom
Satellite Optical and Quantum Communication- Present Capabilities and Future Opportunities
The talk will focus on the evolution of and recent advancements in Satellite Optical and Quantum Communication. These include ESA's flagship mission, HydRON (High-thRoughput Optical Network), and the creation of a new initiative dedicated to the development of the Quantum Information Network (QIN). The emphasis is placed on the multi-orbital network that can be seamlessly integrated with the existing terrestrial fiber network as well as the development of optical and photonics technology under the ESA ScyLight program.
About the Speaker
Dr Kasia Balakier is Optical & Quantum Communication Technology Manager at European Space Agency (ESA). She is responsible for the implementation of ESA Strategic Programme Line in Optical and Quantum Communication – Scylight.
Prior to joining ESA, Kasia was a Lecturer at University College London (UCL). She was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Fellowship to support her research in integrated photonics for space.
In addition to her academic career, she worked as Senior System Engineer and Expert in Telecom Payload Photonics at Airbus, where she was involved in development and implementation of optical systems for Telecommunication and Earth Observation satellites.
Polina Bayvel
University College London, United Kingdom
What Will You Use Those Extra GPUs For? Designing Scalable Optical Networks for an AI-Driven World
To support growing data demands, partly driven by AI applications, optical networks must deliver massive capacity with intelligence and efficiency. However, optical networks are not just sets of transparent pipes, they have physical transmission and graph properties which must be integrated into the network design – both for new networks and to evolve existing network infrastructure. Optimising over tens of formats, hundreds of independent channels over thousands of kms through brute force optimisation is hard, if not impossible! Reduction of complexity is key. By integrating advanced optimisation and machine learning, we must learn to design that match the complexity of future applications and the talk will look at some possible direction to achieve this.
About the Speaker
Professor Polina Bayvel is the Head of the Optical Networks Group at UCL, which she founded in 1994. Her research focuses on optical communications and networks, including intelligent optical networks, wavelength routing, high-speed transmission and fiber nonlinearity mitigation.
After completing her PhD, she worked as a systems engineer at STC Submarine Systems (now Alcatel) and Nortel, specializing in optical transmission and network planning. In 1994, she received a Royal Society University Research Fellowship and established the first academic systems engineering group in optical networks at UCL.
A Fellow of the Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering, IEEE, and Optica, she was awarded a CBE in 2017 for services to engineering. She is the first woman to receive the Thomas Young Medal (2021) and the Royal Society Rumford Medal (2023). In 2024, she was honored with the Humboldt Research Prize.
Bayvel has authored over 500 journal and conference papers, led the EPSRC Programme Grant UNLOC (2012-2018) and currently leads the EPSRC Programme Grant TRANSNET (2018-2024), which aims to revolutionize optical networks using machine learning and intelligent transceivers. She advocates for secure, low-delay, high-capacity communications infrastructure to support the digital economy and transformative technologies.
Jean-Jacques Greffet
Institut d'Optique, France
Light Emissions by Solids: A Unified Model
Light emission by electronic excitations of a solid is often described using a list of microscopic processes such as incandescence, fluorescence, electroluminescence, scintillation, cathodoluminescence and light emission by inelastic tunneling. These processes are associated with electronic transitions, but no quantitative theories are available for most of them. One difficulty is that beyond the microscopic transition responsible for the emission in the bulk, it is necessary to model the extraction of the photon out of the emitter. On the other hand, electrical engineers can compute emissions by currents in complex environments such as cavities or antennas, which modify drastically the process. We will present in the talk a general framework that reconciles the two points of view and can be used to derive a quantitative model of light emission by solids. We will explore applications to thermal emission and electroluminescence, photoluminescence by metals, laser and photon Bose-Einstein condensation.
About the Speaker
Jean-Jacques Greffet is an alumnus of Ecole Normale de Paris-Saclay. He received his PhD in solid-state physics in 1988 from Université Paris-Sud, working in light scattering by rough surfaces. Between 1994 and 2005, he worked on the theory of image formation in near-field optics. Since 1998, he made a number of seminal contributions to the field of thermal radiation at the nanoscale, including the demonstration of coherent thermal sources and the giant radiative heat transfer at the nanoscale due to surface phonon polaritons. Since 2000, he has contributed to the field of quantum plasmonics and light emission with nanoantennas and metasurfaces. He is an Optica fellow and the recipient of the Ixcore Foundation prize and the Servant prize of the French Academy of Science.
Anna Tauke-Pedretti
DARPA, USA
Photonic Integrated Circuit Scaling Pathways
This talk will share recent DARPA program investments for increasing the size and complexity of photonic integrated circuits. It will also discuss the challenges and opportunities the creation of these circuits present. The needed ecosystem advancements to increase access to and further mature photonic integrated circuit technology will also be covered.
About the Speaker
Dr. Anna Tauke-Pedretti is a program manager in DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office. Her research interests include compound semiconductor devices, optoelectronics, microelectronics manufacturing and heterogeneously integrated microsystems. She was a manager and technical staff member at Sandia National Laboratories from 2008 to 2022. At Sandia, she managed and led research efforts in photonic integrated circuits, high-power microelectronics, focal plane arrays and microelectronics security. Tauke-Pedretti has co-authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications and conference proceedings and holds 14 patents. She received Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of Iowa, as well as Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
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Invited Speakers
Photonic Networks and Devices (Networks)
- Markos Anastasopoulos, National Kapodistrian Univ of Athens, Greece
Edge Computing in Optcal Transport for Future Wireless Networks - Keren Bergman, Columbia University, United States
Silicon Photonics for Energy-efficient Peta-scale Connectivity in DCNs - Valeria Da Silva, SENAI CIMATEC School of Technology, Brazil
Quantum Communications - Camille Delezoide, Nokia Bell Labs, France
Digital Twins for Network Resiliency and Failure Recovery - Andreas Gladisch, Deutsche Telekom AG Laboratories, Germany
Challenges of Network Operators Related to Power Consumption - Hiroshi Hasegawa, Nagoya University, Japan
Optical Networking That Exploits Massive Wavelength/Spectrum and Spatial Parallelisms - Masahiko Jinno, Kagawa University, Japan
Spatial Channel Networks and Multicore Fiber-Based Switching Devices - Volker Jungnickel, Fraunhofer Inst Nachricht Henrich-Hertz, Germany
Evolution of LiFi Networks - Robert Killey, University College London, United Kingdom
Coherent DWDM Transmission in O-band - Piotr Lechowicz, Chalmers Tekniska Högskola, Sweden
Adaptable AI/ML Models for Time-varying Optical Networks - Rui Lin, Chalmers Tekniska Högskola, Sweden
Telecom Compatibility of Quantum Key Distribution - Antonio Melgar, Telefónica CTIO, Spain
Practical Considerations for Adapting Optical Transport Networks for Quantum and Classical Communications - Ruby Ospina, Nokia Bell Labs France, France
SDM Transmission and Modelling - Oskars Ozolins, Riga Technical University, Latvia
Hollow-Core Fibers for Data Centers and 6G Fronthaul - Joao Pedro, Infinera Corp., Portugal
Network Simulation Analysis Investigating Coherent Pluggable Optics for Different Network Applications - JOSE Rivas Moscoso, Telefónica Research and Development, Spain
Practical Considerations for Adapting Optical Transport Networks for Quantum and Classical Communications - Pooyan Safari, Fraunhofer HHI, Germany
LLM-assisted Network Automation based on Agentic AI Architectures - Gangxiang Shen, Soochow University,
How to Achieve 50-ms Restoration in the Optical Layer with Shared Protection Capacity? - Gaël Simon, Orange, France
Coexistence in Future Optical Access Networks - Catalina Stan, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Netherlands
Resource Allocation in Quantum Key Distribution Networks - Iman Tavakkolnia, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Optical Wireless Communications: Applications For Future Connectivity - António Teixeira, PICadvanced, Portugal
Cost-effective Solutions for Future PON - Rui Wang, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
Quantum Networks: from Quantum Key Distribution to Entanglement Distribution - Elaine Wong, University of Melbourne, Australia
ML in Access Networks Towards 6G - Xuwei Xue, Beijing University of Posts & Telecom, China
Optical Switching Enhanced Distributed Machine Learning - Yuki Yoshida, National Inst of Information & Comm Tech, Japan
Optical Testbed Dataspace: Testbed Data Sharing Framework for Network Automation
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Student Paper Competition
The papers submitted to the competition were reviewed during the standard Technical Program Committee (TPC) review process, which resulted in 14 finalists being selected. After the papers are presented at the meeting, the Program Committee members will select winners based on content quality, value to the technical community of interest and the student's presentation skills.
Congratulations to the Winners!
Integrated Photonics Research, Silicon and Nanophotonics (IPR)
Ana M Statie, C2N, France (IM4A.4)
Hybrid integration of Erbium-doped oxides on Silicon Nitride platforms for light amplification
Novel Optical Materials and Applications (NOMA)
Ishika Das, University of Manchester, UK (NoM4D.3)
Efficient Second Harmonic Generation in Room-Temperature Ferroelectric Nematic Liquid Crystals
Signal Processing in Photonic Communications (SPPCom)
Alessandro Gagliano, Politecnico di Milano, Italy (SpTu1F.2)
Joint Sensing and Quantum Key Distribution for Invulnerable Access Networks
Solar, Lighting, and Thermal Photonics (SOLITH)
Mathis Degeorges, Princeton University, USA (SM2E.3)
Micropatterned Directional Emitters for Passive Thermoregulation of Vertical Facades
Photonic Networks and Devices (Networks)
Haojun Jiang, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China (NeTh2C.1)
Comprehensive Investigations of the Design for C+L-band Multi-pump Raman Amplifiers
