F5: Advanced optical communication: From devices, circuits, and architectures to algorithms

Since the invention of optical fiber in the 1970's, optical communication has been changing the landscape of telecommunication and data communication worldwide with its ultra-broad bandwidth and long haul transmission capabilities. It connects people around the world through submarine inter-continent optical cables, is the backbone of metro area networks, and is essential for data center network connectivity. Today, cost effective 100Gb/s optical links on a single fiber, using either III-V based optical devices or silicon photonics, are readily available for few meters to few kilometers connectivity solutions inside the data center and between data centers, while next generation links are poised to reach 400Gb/s. In this forum, the current state-of-the-art of optical communications will be reviewed, including advances in long-haul transport, progress in silicon photonics covering transceivers, packaging, assembly and test, progress in high order modulation schemes and signal processing, description of 56Gb/s and beyond electrical serial interfaces, and closing with a presentation on optical backplane technology.