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Work Group 1 - Information and Communication
The major highways of communication and information flows are optical. The data rates of the internet are scaling with advances in lasers, optical fibres and optical coding technologies. Bringing the benefits of broadband communications to European citizens presents both the challenges and the rewards for the next generation of photonic systems.
We need components and architectures that support bandwidth growth which is 100-1000 times more efficient than that of today’s “broadband” services. In a leadership position Europe can force standards rather than react to them and leverage European solutions in the global market.
We need components and architectures that support bandwidth growth which is 100-1000 times more efficient than that of today’s “broadband” services. In a leadership position Europe can force standards rather than react to them and leverage European solutions in the global market.
Transmission
A significant network evolution will provide leadership for a development of optical components and manufacturing technologies. Industry has moved beyond the handcrafted, precision aligned modules of the last decade, where performance counted well above cost. The commercial push coming from the data communications sector is driving modularity. This is leading to the simplification of performance and functionality, with basic chips being designed for the “hot pluggable” easy to use standards.
Part of the challenge now is to achieve cost, size, integration and performance levels well beyond even today’s telecom grade components into datacom footprints and cost range and to make their use simple for the system integrator. This means to implement more intelligent components, so that they can configure themselves, for instance, in wavelength, bit rate and dispersion.
Part of the challenge now is to achieve cost, size, integration and performance levels well beyond even today’s telecom grade components into datacom footprints and cost range and to make their use simple for the system integrator. This means to implement more intelligent components, so that they can configure themselves, for instance, in wavelength, bit rate and dispersion.
Examples of predictions until 2015:
Information networks are moving toward ubiquitous presence. This evolution will drive the continuous growth of bandwidth throughout the network from Access to transcontinental links. As a result, photonics will continue to diffuse from the heart of the networks to the edges, and confirm its unique and unrivalled ability to convey tremendous volumes of data. A recent OIDA report shows:
- 2015 network bit rates will be dominated by 40Gbps in the core and 10Gbps in metro areas, while higher rates will penetrate.
- Total transmission capacity per carrier by 2015 will be in the 100 Tbps range.
Optical data storage
Another area which is highly strategic and largely complementary to data transmission is the optical data storage. The use of optical storage grows at a tremendous pace, driven by the flexibility and affordability the technology offers.
In spite of the impressive progress that optical storage technologies have already made at the heart of our information society, storage systems and devices are still in an early stage of their development. There is an ongoing rapid evolution of data storage systems and devices. Material processing and device design developments will cover photo chromic polymers, optical illumination and 3-D imaging systems, micro-mechanical optical actuator chips, and micro-optical packaging techniques, to name a few.
Example of predictions until 2015:
The primary technical challenges are to further increase storage density and data transfer rates in order to enable new applications such as digital storage for mobile digital devices (e.g. camcorders), super high quality video distribution and economic long term data archiving. Fourth generation technologies will target a capacity between 250 and 500 GB on a CD sized disc.
In order to reach such a high storage capacity, several technologies will be competing and working together. On the one hand, solutions may entail a further increase in the real density by combating the diffraction limits of optics using, for example, near-field optics and SuperRENS (Super Resolution Near-field Structure). On the other hand, solutions may take advantage of additional available dimensions such as proposed for various 3-D optical storage concepts which could dramatically change our use of microelectronics.
Processing
Optical signal processing has the potential to realize high-speed and high capacity processing at speeds which are 100 to 1000 times faster than that achievable with conventional electronic signal processing. This is a key enabling technology for ultra high speed networks, into the multi-terabit per second regime.
There are two complementary areas of optical signal processing - the realization of “optical in, optical out” network elements such as regenerators of repeaters and the more futuristic optical computing, which could apply to a wide range of applications, including real-time digital signal processing for military and security, real-time video compression, as well as network functions such as header processing and error correction.
Example of predictions until 2015:
One of the core challenges for the realization of all optical networks is the cost effective all optical generator, capable of regeneration, reshaping and retiming (3R). Breakthrough designs and technologies for achieving this in a multiwavelength configuration will have a major impact.
- All optical processing can be viewed as the key enabling technology for very high bit rates beyond 160 Gbps), where electronic solutions will become impractical. Many functional elements are required such as Arrayed Wave Guides (AWGs) and integrated elements for photon control, wavelength/dispersion management and ultimately photon storage, improvements in switching technologies both in the spatial and wavelengths domains. Realisation of a photonic memory may also play a critical role here.
- Quantum cryptography is the basis for quantum-key distribution networks which use single photons for storing and transferring information with impenetrable encryption. Developing such a quantum-key distribution network requires intense research in order to reliably generate single photons with the desired spin together with single photon detectors. A way to combine these into a network using very loss switching techniques.
- Quantum computing is an area of basic research, but with an enormous possible benefit. Understanding how to efficiently generate and process qubits will require tremendous research efforts.
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