Introduction
Communication networks are constantly required to expand because they are subject to an explosion of services and applications every day. Optical technologies can conveniently face this challenge both in terms of geographical deployment and network connectivity. Optical networks have the capability to offer high speed and huge capacity to smoothly operate the demanding applications and services of tomorrow. The three structural divisions of the communication network that are bound to evolve are:
- Access network: It will have to cater for data rate demand (in both downstream and upstream directions) of the order of Giga bits per second;
- Metropolitan network: Present between access and long-distance networks, it will have to strike a balance between enhanced connectivity with moderate equipment and operational costs;
- Backbone network: It faces unique challenges. Initially, as a speculation to the rapid technological breakthroughs of 90’s, backbone networks were over-dimensioned. But now further development in the network core has again brought up the critical question of expansion of backbone networks.
Optical Telecommunications Group mobilizes its knowledge base and expertise to enable advanced research in the fields of:
- Capacities and data rates of optical transmission at 40Gbps and beyond (even 160Gbps with OTDM);
- Growth of services on access network, as well as the growth of intelligence and connectivity of the global network by employing optical signal processing;
- Dissemination of optical technologies to various sectors of the industry and the market.
Research on optical technologies and optical signal processing functions focuses on designing efficient optical devices and analyzing their performance for use in the core network and optical fiber transmission networks for a wide-range of applications (like clock-recovery, optical-switching of packet data, fast modulation schemes and new modulation formats).
Study and research on horizontal communications not only applies to the techniques related to network access (Optical CDMA, Radio over Fiber, WDM-PON) but it also has applications in the adjacent fields like, imaging, for instance. In parallel, a special attention is being given to ground breaking studies in the domain of quantum transmission and quantum exchange of encryption keys.
Expertise optical fiber lasers and amplifiers and the associated non-linear optical phenomena has resulted in outreaching research projects that target industries even outside of the domain telecommunications (like defense, civil engineering, etc.) and has resulted into the award of several contracts.
Finally, all the above mentioned initiatives are accompanied by simulation and modeling practices which lead to the development of prestigious study methods and proprietary tools and models as well as to many external interactions and partnerships in various projects (like low-coherence reflectometry, 10Gb/s transmission platform for system simulations, etc.).
| Planches de présentation du groupe de recherche GTO (Français, pdf, 7Mo) |  |
| Slides : presentation of the GTO research group (English, pdf, 17Mo) | |
| extrait du rapport CNRS 2002/05 du LTCI |