title

Call For Papers

Findings and Experiences from
European Research Projects on Optical Networking

Thursday 28th June 2007 - full day

Venue: ICC2007 Glasgow

W-04: Findings and Experiences from European Research Projects on Optical Networking

Organiser(s):
Prof. Stefano Bregni: Polytechnic of Milan – Dept. of Electronics and Information (bregni@elet.polimi.it)
Prof. Fabio Neri: Polytechnic of Turin – Dept. of Electronics (fabio.neri@polito.it)
Prof. Mike O'Mahony: University of Essex – Dep. of Electronic Systems Engineering (mikej@essex.ac.uk)
Dr. Christina (Tanya) Politi: National Technical University of Athens – Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering (tpoliti@telecom.ntua.gr)

Overview

Optical communication systems have been featuring an unprecedented increase of transmission capacity: today, commercial Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) long-haul systems achieve a capacity of several Tbit/s. In addition to transmission, for which optics is almost always preferred to electronics, also networking functions (e.g. wavelength routing and assignment, fault recovery, packet and burst switching, intelligent control and management) are now supported in the optical domain, to meet the diverse requirements of broadband services for residential and business users, of Storage Area Networks (SAN), of multimedia content distribution networks, of disaster recovery and business continuity applications, etc. Optical technology, architectures and protocols are evolving quickly: once targeted to backbone networks, they are now widely deployed also in the metropolitan and access segments.

The European research community in optical communications and networks has a long-time tradition and has gained an established reputation. The European industry is well positioned in this field. The European Community (EC) provides significant financial support to the research in optical communications through several funding programs. Many research projects are ongoing under EC funding, ranging from large Integrated Projects, to Networks of Excellence, to more focused Specific Targeted Research Projects (STREPs).
This workshop will present experiences and results from major European research projects in the fields of optical communications and networking:

• EC officers will introduce European funding frameworks;

• extra-European major research frameworks will be also presented;

• EC project leaders, from both industry and academia, will highlight technical achievements, advantages and issues of coordinated research projects on an European scale;

• state-of-the-art findings from major EC-funded research projects on optical networking will be overviewed;

• the role of optical networking in the just started 7th Framework Programme (FP7) will be discussed;

• a panel of high-profile specialists will discuss the potential impact of optical technology on network evolution.

This workshop is a unique opportunity to have an up-to-date overview of a dozen of European research programs, surveying the experiences of key European participants in optical networking. It will highlight the European technical perspectives while also providing a comparison with research activities in Asia and America.

In addition, this workshop will offer an excellent chance to worldwide researchers for meeting up, focusing research efforts, sharing ideas and taking a glimpse on open issues, emerging solutions, new results, advanced technologies and other cutting-edge topics in the area of optical systems and networks.

Officers and researchers of major European research consortia in this area will be present, from both academia and industry R&D departments! Therefore, this workshop will offer an outstanding opportunity, not to be missed, for networking among specialists in optical communication and networking, to establish or consolidate relationships, to start or pursue cooperation and coordination efforts, within and beyond the European borders.

Invited European Projects

Representatives of the following FP6 projects have confirmed their participation in the workshop. The list will be completed in the next weeks, as more projects confirm their participation.

  • BREAD (Broadband in Europe for All: a multi-Disciplinary approach). Co-ordination action aiming at developing a multi-disciplinary approach for the realization of the 'broadband for all' concept within Europe. (http://www.ist-bread.org)

  • e-Photon/ONe+. Network of Excellence among 40 partners on optical networks. It focuses on the 'Broadband for All' strategic objective of the IST 4th call of FP6, targeting network-oriented and system-oriented aspects of the optically enabled broadband. (http://www.e-photon-one.org/)

  • ePIXnet: Network of Excellence among 50 partners on photonic integration. It provides a platform to its academic and industrial partners for sharing and integrating research facilities and research know-how in the field of photonic integrated components and circuits. (http://www.epixnet.org/)

  • NOBEL: (Next generation Optical network for Broadband in Europe). Integrated project to carry out analysis, feasibility studies and experimental activities on innovative architectures and technologies solutions for core and metro networks supporting broadband services. (http://www.ist-nobel.org/)

  • MUPBED: (Multi-Partner European Testbeds for Research Networking). Its main goal is to integrate and validate, in the context of user-driven large-scale testbeds, ASON/GMPLS (Automatically Switched Optical Network/Generalised Multi Protocol Label Switching) technology and network solutions as enablers for future upgrades to European research infrastructures.(http://www.ist-mupbed.org/)

  • LASAGNE: (All-optical Label SwApping employing optical logic Gates in NEtwork). STREP on the use of all-optical logic gates and optical flip-flops to implement All-Optical Label Swapping (AOLS) network nodes. (http://www.ist-lasagne.org/)

  • POF-ALL: (Paving the Optical Future with Affordable Lightning-fast Links). STREP meant to develop a low-cost solution based on Plastic Optical Fiber (POF) to make the delivery of broadband access to everyone possible. A careful optimization of the enabling technologies (components, devices and protocols) will end up in a real-life field test. (http://www.ist-pof-all.org/)

  • TRIUMPH: (Transparent Ring Interconnection Using Multi-wavelength Photonic Switches). STREP on new broadband access network architectures based upon transparent ring interconnection using multi-wavelength photonic switches.

  • MUFINS: (MUlti-Functional INtegrated arrays of interferometric Switches). Even though general purpose all-optical processing is still a long way off, there are specialized applications in high data rate telecommunications and networking, where ultra high speed, low complexity all-optical circuits are ideally suited. MUFINS is a STREP aiming at studying and manufacturing compact and low cost arrays of all-optical gates. (http://mufins.cti.gr/tiki-mufinsHome.php)

  • MUSE: (MUlti Service access Everywhere). The overall objective of MUSE is the research and development of a future, low cost, multi-service access network. It aims at a consensus view of the future access and edge network achieved by the co-operative research of almost all major players in Europe in the area of Broadband Access. The project addresses the network architecture, techno-economics, access nodes, solutions for the first mile, and interworking with the home network. (http://www.ist-muse.org)

  • PHOSPHOROUS: The Phosphorus test-bed make applications aware of their Grid resources and able to make dynamic, adaptive and optimized use of heterogeneous network infrastructures. It will rely on experimental activities on a distributed test-bed interconnecting European and worldwide optical infrastructures. (http://www.ist-phosphorus.eu/)

Panel

The workshop will be closed by a panel discussion, focused on the specificity of optically-enabled networks. High-profile specialists from industry and academia will bring different views on what will be the impact of optical technology on network evolution.

Each panelist will be asked to provide his/her answers to a set of specific questions related to the topic above, and to defend these answers against the comments of the audience.
This panel will provide a check point on past and future of optical technologies in telecommunication networks in Europe and other parts of the world.

Who Should Attend

This workshop will be a unique opportunity to have an up-to-date overview on numerous European research programs, surveying the experiences of the main European actors in optical networking, also in comparison with research activities in Asia and America. In addition, this workshop will offer an excellent chance to researchers from the entire world for meeting up and sharing new ideas, possibly paving the way to new joint efforts in the area of optical systems and networks.

Officers and researchers of major European research consortia in this area will be present, from both academia and industry R&D departments! Therefore, this workshop will offer an outstanding opportunity for networking among specialists in optical networking, to establish or consolidate relationships, to start or pursue cooperation and coordination efforts within and beyond the European borders, to exploit the opportunities of financial support for both European and world research consortia.

This opportunity should not be missed by anybody involved in research and development in optical communication and networking, interested to be up to date in this quickly evolving area and possibly to establish or strengthen liaisons among universities and R&D industrial labs.

Not only the specialists already involved in projects featured in this workshop should attend, but also R&D managers, marketing managers, academics and researchers at any level not involved yet in EC-funded programs, from both Europe and other continents, will benefit from attending this workshop and meeting key players from twelve major European projects.

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