Bell Labs, Nokia
Title: Wired communication: from Maxwell to optical fibers
Abstract:Electrical wired communication appeared in the 19th century and enabled for the first time near-instantaneous communication over continental distances. Over the last two centuries, there has been a steady evolution from using electrical currents to using electromagnetic fields to transmit information over long distances. The discovery of low-loss optical fibers in the last few decades has enabled a dramatic increase in the rate of information transmission and, importantly, a considerable reduction in the cost of transmitted bits. The latter lead to a widespread democratization of information sharing. We will present an overview of the evolution of long-haul wired communication, from single metallic wires to optical fibers. The emphasis will be on the physical phenomena thought to have driven technological evolution and some historical events that may have played a role in the development of long-haul communication.
Biography
René-Jean Essiambre received his Ph.D. in Physics from Laval University, Québec City, Canada and pursued post-doctoral studies at the Institute of Optics of the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY. In 1997, he joined Lucent Technologies (which became Alcatel-Lucent and now Nokia). Dr. Essiambre worked on fiber lasers, optical fiber nonlinearity, advanced modulation formats, coherent detection, space-division multiplexing and information theory applied to optical fibers. He has an extensive knowledge of fiber-optic communication systems and contributed to the design of many installed commercial systems. He has given over 100 invited talks, including the 2018 Physics Nobel Prize Lecture of Arthur Ashkin. He has served on or chaired several conference committees, including OFC, ECOC, CLEO and the IEEE Photonics Society (IPS). He was program and general co-chair of CLEO Science & Innovation in 2012 and 2014, respectively. He is a recipient of the 2005 Engineering Excellence Award from OSA, a fellow of the IEEE and the OSA, and a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff (DMTS) and Fellow at Bell Labs, Nokia. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Studies of Technical University of Munich (IAS-TUM) in Munich, Germany. He is an Ambassador of TUM. He is currently member of the Board of Governors and V-P of the Membership Council at IPS.