Challenges and Opportunities for Coherent Detection Systems in Next-Generation Multi-Terabit Optical Wireless Communications

Optical wireless transmission in the near-infrared, also known as free-space optics (FSO), is nowadays the most promising solution for the development of next-generation multi-Terabit wireless systems, encompassing multiple applications that range from terrestrial (last-mile access, intra/inter-datacenter) to space (satellite-to-Earth, inter-satellite, deep-space) communications. To unlock the full potential of FSO systems, efficient and wideband photonic detection is one of the most critical requirements.

In this webinar, Fernando Guiomar will first introduce the fundamental motivation for the recent worldwide quest for high-speed FSO communications, revisiting the key fundamental challenges associated with the transmission and detection of FSO signals, notably including the detrimental issue of optical power fading caused by pointing errors and atmospheric turbulence. The webinar will then focus on the opportunities brought by the adoption of fiber-coupled receivers for FSO signal detection, including the possibility of exploiting highly photon-efficient and ultra-wideband coherent detection techniques. Finally, advanced signal detection techniques will be discussed, leveraging optical coupling into special multi-core or few-mode fibers, together with advanced digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques, thereby enabling improved photon efficiency and enhanced resilience towards deep
fading phenomena.

Subject Matter Level: Intermediate - Assumes basic knowledge of the topic

What You Will Learn:
• Free-space optics challenges: pointing errors, turbulence, and power fading.
• Fiber-coupled coherent detection for wideband, photon-efficient reception.
• Multicore/few-mode fiber + MIMO DSP for enhanced fade resilience.

Who Should Attend:
• Optical communications researchers and engineers working on FSO systems.
• Students focused on coherent detection and photonic receiver design.

About the Presenter: Fernando Pedro Pereira Guiomar from University of Aveiro

Fernando Guiomar received his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering in 2015, from the University of Aveiro, Portugal, awarded for his contributions to the development of nonlinear modeling and mitigation techniques for high-capacity coherent optical fiber systems. From 2015 to 2017, he was with Politecnico di Torino and CISCO Optical GmbH as a post-doctoral researcher under the framework of a Marie Skodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship, where he developed flexible modulation and DSP subsystems for elastic optical networks. He is currently a senior researcher at Instituto de Telecomunicacões, where he is leading the development of multi-Terabit communication systems, including optical fiber (including access, metro and long-haul links) and optical wireless communications (including both free-space optics and visible light communications). Fernando Guiomar is a senior member of Optica and IEEE, having co-authored >170 scientific publications in leading international journals and conferences.