ECOC 2009: Squeezing optics out of optical communications

Prof. Polina BayvelAn interview with Polina Bayvel, Professor of Optical Communications and Networks and head of the Optical Networks Group at University College London (UCL), on her ECOC conference impressions.

What did you find noteworthy at ECOC 2009?

PB: So much work on digital signal processing and coherent detection...will these techniques lead to another revolution in fibre optics?   But there is much to understand about how to design the DSP algorithms and how to best match these to appropriate fibre maps in some implementable way.

Did anything at the conference surprise you?

PB: Is there really a capacity crunch or is it a cost crunch and who will end up paying?  There is much work on new fibres, new DSP but why is no-one looking at new amplifiers?

What did you learn from ECOC?

PB: I learnt how little progress there has been made in all-optical networking - the well-trodden ideas and arguments on wavelength routing which have been circulating for over 15 years are not being taken up by operators but are being re-discovered and re-offered as new...and just how conservative the operators still are, except those in Japan.

Did  you see or hear anything that gives reason for industry optimism?

PB: Lots of buzz about linear and nonlinear DSP, error correcting codes, net coding gain, FPGAs and many other developments which, whilst invigorating the industry are squeezing optics out of optical communications.  Here is to the fightback for optics!