Signal Processing in Photonic Communications (SPPCom)m)
Events
Signal Processing in Photonic Communications (SPPCom)
13 – 17 July 2025
Marseille, France
Signal processing has become essential to address the ever-increasing capacity demand, to reduce cost and power per bit and enable future services in photonic communication systems, including metro and long-haul transmissions, access and data center networks, edge computing, quantum and free space communications and optical signal processors.
SPPCom covers the state-of-the-art advances in digital, analog, electronic and optical signal processing techniques for photonic communication systems. The topical meeting brings together researchers and engineers from the academic and corporate world to share their knowledge, present their cutting-edge research and introduce their vision for the future of signal processing.
Chairs
Jun-ichi Kani
NTT Access Service Systems Laboratories, Japan,
General Chair
Dora van Veen
Nokia Corporation, United States,
General Chair
Paola Parolari
Politecnico di Milano, Italy,
Program Chair
Gaël Simon
Orange, France,
Program Chair
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Committee Members
- Jun-ichi Kani, NTT Access Service Systems Laboratories, Japan, General Chair
- Dora van Veen, Nokia Corporation, United States, General Chair
- Paola Parolari, Politecnico di Milano, Italy, Program Chair
- Gaël Simon, Orange, France, Program Chair
- Adonis Bogris, University of West Attica, Greece
- Benoit Charbonnier, CEA-LETI, France
- Di Che, Nokia Bell Labs, United States
- Hwan Seok Chung, Electronics and Telecom Research Inst, Republic Of Korea
- Devika Dass, University of Dublin Trinity College, Ireland
- Annika Dochhan, Christian-Albrechts Universität zu Kiel, Germany
- Tobias Fehenberger, Adva Network Security GmbH, Germany
- Filipe Ferreira, University College London, United Kingdom
- Koji Igarashi, The University of Osaka, Japan
- Takuya Ikuta, NTT Basic Research Laboratories, Japan
- Fan Li, Sun Yat-Sen University (CHINA), China
- Anaelle Maho, Thales Alenia Space France, France
- Annachiara Pagano, FiberCop S.p.A, Italy
- Georg Rademacher, Universität Stuttgart, Germany
- Rui Zhang, State University of New York at Buffalo, United States
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Topic Categories
Signal Processing in Photonic Communications (SPPCom)
- Next Generation Transmission Systems
- Advanced modulation schemes, forward error correction and coding
- Algorithms for DSP in optical transmission systems
- Channel characterization and equalization
- Advanced data encoding and signal shaping
- Performance monitoring and signal characterization
- Flexible and sliceable transceivers
- Real-time demonstration and field trials
- Space-division multiplexing (SDM)
- Digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital converters
- Demonstration of high capacity transmission
- Joint transmission and sensing
- Low carbon footprint transmission system
- Machine Learning (ML) in Optical Communication
- Channel estimation and equalization
- Signal & component characterization, performance monitoring, failure prediction
- Physical layer optimization
- Optical signal processing for neural networks
- Photonic neural networks, neuromorphic computing
- Digital twin
- Quantum Communications
- QKD (signal processing, channel estimation, device calibration, error correction and privacy amplification)
- Quantum random number generation
- Protocols beyond QKD (quantum digital signatures, quantum authentication)
- Quantum imaging
- Quantum repeaters
- Quantum networks
- Photonics for RF and Free Space Optical Communication
- Analog radio-over-fiber systems for 5G and beyond
- Optical-wireless communication
- Visible light communication systems
- Lab and field demonstration of free-space optical wireless transmission
- Space and stratosphere optical communication (inter-satellite, inter-HAPS, ground-to-satellite/satellite-to-ground, etc.)
- Underwater optical wireless communication
- Access Networks — Passive Optical Networks (PON)
- Advanced PON architectures (Coherent PON, WDM-PON, TWDM-PON, OFDMA-PON, etc.)
- Burst mode signal processing
- In-building optical networks
- Digital, electronic and optical processing for PON systems
- Signal processing for optical backhaul/fronthaul networks
- Signal processing for long-reach broadband access networks
- Energy efficient access networks
- Optical Signal Processing
- Passive and active all-optical signal processing subsystems
- Microwave photonic subsystems
- Optical signal processing with photonic integrated circuits
- Optical digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital converters
- Optical buffering, bit-, and label-processing subsystems
- Optical packet and burst switching subsystems
- Performance monitoring and signal characterization based on optical techniques
- Optics in computing
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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
Signal Processing in Photonic Communications (SPPCom)
- Daniel Brunner, FEMTO-ST, France
Advances and Future Relevance of Photonic Machine Learning Tutorial - Khouloud Abdelli, Nokia Bell Labs Germany, Germany
AI for Smarter Optical Networks: Anomaly Detection, Event Classification, and Beyond - Aymeric Arnould, Fraunhofer HHI, Germany
Blind MIMO Equalization for Space-Division Multiplexed Transmission - Sonia Boscolo, Aston University, United Kingdom
Development of Complex-valued Kernel Adaptive Filtering-based Techniques for Distortion Compensation in Transmission Links with Parametric Optical Devices - Stella Civelli, IEIIT-CNR, Italy
Constellation Shaping: Opportunities and Challenges - Callum Deakin, Nokia Bell Labs, United States
Optical Techniques for THz Bandwidth Coherent Transceivers - Christoph Füllner, Nokia Bell Labs, Germany
The Road Towards 100G and 200G PON – Time for a Paradigm Shift? - Sergi García Cortijo, Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
Dispersion-Diversity Multicore Fibers: Unlocking the Spatial Dimension for Signal Processing - Miguel Gonzalez-Herraez, Universidad de Alcala, Spain
Author's proposal: Understanding the Oceans Using Submarine Optical Fibre Cables - Sergio Hernandez, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, Denmark
End-to-end Learning for Fiber Optic Communication Systems - Sebastian Jung, Universität Stuttgart, Germany
Advances in Modelling and Mitigating Equalization-Enhanced Phase Noise - Akira Kawai, NTT, Inc., Japan
Advanced SDM MIMO Processing Towards Over-10-Tb/s Transceivers - Hoon Kim, Korea Advanced Inst of Science & Tech, Republic Of Korea
Adaptive Beam Control Techniques for Free-space Optical Communications - Masato Koashi, University of Tokyo, Japan
Recent Progress in Security Theory of Quantum Key distribution - Ingmar Land, Nokia Corporation, France
Status and Future of Coding and Modulation for Optical Communications - Bruno MARTIN, Thales Research & Technology, France
Architectures and Demonstrations of Free-space Optical Communication and Sensing Systems at TRT : from the Short to the Mid Infrared Regions - Laia Nadal, Centre Tecnològic Telecom de Catalunya, Spain
Programmable Transceiver and Switching Solutions for Multi-band Over Spatial Division Multiplexed Optical Networks - Ampalavanapilla Nirmalathas, University of Melbourne, Australia
Dynamic Optical Crosshaul Networks for Mobile Networks Supporting Heterogeneous Signal Transport Schemes - Dario Pilori, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
Estimating the Non-Linear Interference at the Receiver: Methods and Pitfalls - Joan Manel Ramirez, Nokia Bell Labs France, France
InP-based High-speed Transceivers Heterogeneously Integrated on Silicon: the Quest for Efficiency, Low-cost Manufacturing and Performance - André Sandmann, Adtran Networks SE, Germany
Correlation-Enhanced Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing - Patryk Urban, West Pomeranian University of Technology, United States
Reliable monitoring of PONs using standard OTDR - Lakshmi Narayanan Venkatasubramani, Dublin City University, Ireland
Towards Next Generation Long Reach 200G Optical Access Networks Employing Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers - Zichuan Zhou, University College London, United Kingdom
Frequency-Division-Multiplexed PON Upstream enabled by Optical Frequency Comb
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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
