Abstract: The most recent generation of coherent optical communications equipment operates at 1.6 Tb/s on a single wavelength, corresponding to a staggering 100× increase in capacity over the past 20 years. This improvement stems from many advances in integrated photonics, semiconductor manufacturing, and digital signal processing. Custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) manufactured using the latest fabrication nodes process optical signals to transport as much information as possible, enabling transmission of over 1 Tb/s across the Pacific Ocean and even communication with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of -3 dB. The programmable DSP in these powerful ASICs can also be repurposed for other applications outside of telecommunications, such as medical imaging, LiDAR, and distributed optical fiber sensing.

In the first part of this talk, we will review the signal processing techniques that, when coupled with high-bandwidth (>110 GHz) analog circuits, push the limits of coherent optical fiber transmission. In the second part of the talk, we will discuss how these improvements can be leveraged to improve optical imaging and sensing applications.

Bio: Kim Roberts has been a major force in the field of digital signal processing for optical transmission in developing the first coherent 40, 100, 400, and 800 Gb/s optical systems. Today Kim is Vice President at Ciena, leading an R&D team focused on pushing the optical boundaries even further with WaveLogic-6 at 1600 Gb/s.

Kim is a passionate evangelist of new optical technologies and holds more than 190 patents with many more pending. Kim was named an IEEE Fellow, a Nortel Fellow, a Ciena Fellow, and in 2008 the Outstanding Engineer by IEEE Canada. Kim is the 2019 recipient of the Tyndall Award. In 2024 Kim was honored with the IEEE Photonics Award.