Bonjour to ECOC 2021
TRANSNET members welcome the 47th edition of the European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC), taking place in the city of Bordeaux from 13 – 16 September 2021.
ECOC is the largest conference on optical communications in Europe, and one of the most prestigious and longest-running events in the field worldwide. This year, the conference is adopting a hybrid format to give delegates the option of attending in person or virtually depending on their preference or Covid-19-based travel restrictions.
ECOC 2021 comprises four days of technical content, including workshops, plenaries, tutorials, special events and demos along with invited, contributed and post-deadline papers. And, of course, there’s the associated exhibition, running from 13 – 15 September, providing an opportunity for attendees to connect with industry leaders and specialist suppliers about the latest products, services and hot topics in the telecoms market.
This year, TRANSNET investigator Lidia Galdino formed part of the conference Technical Programme Committee, advising on SC5: Optical Transmission Systems. Please take a look at the rest of our members’ ECOC activities below.
Workshops
Workshop: How machine learning can revolutionize optical fiber communications (SC4 – Techniques for digitally enhancing optical communication)
Speaker: Vladislav Neskorniuk
Title: Machine learning methods for nonlinearity mitigation in the physical layer of fiber-optic communication links
Time: 09:00 – 10:30 and repeated at 11:00 – 12:30 (CET)
Location: Room B
TRANSNET EAB member Glenn Wellbrock (Verizon) and former TRANSNET/UCL PhD student Boris Karanov (now at the Technology University of Eindhoven) are also taking part in this workshop, delivering the talks 'Carrier’s perspective on how machine learning can assist terrestrial networks' and 'End-to-end link optimization using deep learning', respectively.
Workshop: Interoperable DSP-Based PON Systems – Fact or Fantasy? (SC9 –Access, Indoor, Short Reach for Data centers and Mobile Networks)
Speaker: Seb Savory
Title: DSP for Coherent PON
Time: 09:00 – 10:30 and repeated 11:00 – 12:30 CET
Location: Room G
Author Presentations
Paper: End-to-End Deep Learning of Long-Haul Coherent Optical Fiber Communications via Regular Perturbation Model (SC4 – Techniques for digitally enhancing optical communication)
Presenter: Vladislav Neskorniuk
Abstract: We present a novel end-to-end autoencoder-based learning for coherent optical communications using a "parallelizable'' perturbative channel model. We jointly optimized constellation shaping and nonlinear pre-emphasis achieving mutual information gain of 0.18 bits/sym./pol. simulating 64GBd dual-polarization single-channel transmission over 30x80 km G.652 SMF link with EDFAs.
Date: Tuesday 14 September
Time: 09:30 – 09:45 CET
Location: Room C2
Paper: Neural Networks For Nonlinear Fourier Spectrum Computation (SC4 – Techniques for digitally enhancing optical communication)
Presenter: Egor Sedov
Abstract: We demonstrate that neural networks can outperform conventional numerical nonlinear Fourier transform algorithms for processing the noise-corrupted optical signal. Applying the Bayesian hyper-parameters optimisation, we design the architecture of neural networks capable to compute nonlinear signal spectrum at low SNR more accurately than conventional algorithms.
Date: Tuesday 14 September
Time: 11:00 – 11:15 CET
Location: Room C2
Paper: A Pareto Optimality Based Multi-Objective Optimisation Approach to Assist Optical Network (Re-)Design Choices (SC8 – Core and metro networks)
Presenter: Sam Nallaperuma
Abstract: This paper presents a Pareto optimality based multi-objective optimisation approach to optimise optical network parameters considering multiple performance metrics simultaneously. Resultant Pareto-optimal solutions provide a set of options for practitioners to assist network (re-) design choices considering multiple (conflicting) performance goals.
Date: Thursday 16 September
Time: 11:45 – 12:00 CET
Location: Room A
Paper: Experimental Analysis of Mismatched Soft-Demapping for Probabilistic Shaping in Short-Reach Nonlinear Transmission (SC5 - Optical Transmission systems)
Presenter: Pavel Skvortcov
Abstract: The impact of dimensionality of soft-demappers is investigated for probabilistic shaping in systems with short-memory correlated nonlinearities. Simple instantaneous nonlinearity compensation is proposed, significantly improving the performance of a low-complexity 1D demapper.
Date: Thursday 16 September
Time: 12:15 – 12:30
Location: Room C1
Special Events and ECOC Exhibition
Event: Wideband Optical Networks
Organiser: Wladek Forysiak
Date: Monday 13 September
Time: 13:30 – 15:00 CET
Location: Room A
The event is hosted by the WON Consortium, a doctoral-level training programme funded by the European Commission under Horizon 2020, which Wladek coordinates. The special event will begin with an introduction to the WON project followed by a series of short presentations from the programme's early-stage researchers and conclude with an extended external presentation from Ben Puttnam of NICT, Japan.
Exhibition: Market Focus
Advisory Committee Member: Wladek Forysiak
Date: Mon 13 September – Weds 15 September
Time: Varied. Please see the Market Focus Timetable for details about specific sessions.
The ECOC Market Focus is a popular part of the exhibition showcasing the latest news and developments from leading organisations within the fibre optics community – delegates have the opportunity to gain industry knowledge and insight into the latest technologies available. Wladek is a member of the Market Focus Advisory Committee, the decision-making council behind the company presentation selection process which includes representatives from across the optical communications space (TRANSNET EAB member Glenn Wellbrock is also a member).
Access the full conference programme on the ECOC 2021 website.
ECOC 2021 is possibly the first optical communications conference to happen in person since the Covid-19 pandemic. We wish everyone attending, both physically and virtually, a happy and healthy event. More information about travel rules and on-site safety measures can be found on the ECOC website.
Take a look at TRANSNET members' ECOC 2020 participation using the link below. Please also find a comprehensive list of all TRANSNET conference publications since the start of the programme.