Communicating with light w/ @bayvel_p

Some of the greatest scientific and technological successes of the past 50 years are in the area of communications. Most of the data we generate and receive (whether emails, tweets, videos or mobile calls) are now carried by optical fibres, which use light to transmit vast quantities of information over trans-oceanic distances. The use of hundreds of wavelengths (colours of light), over, a single fibre, as well as other properties of light: its amplitude, phase and polarization, have led to increases of many orders of magnitude in the optical information carrying capacity. This sparked the communication revolution and the growth of the Internet, and created an illusion of infinite capacity being available. But as the amounts of data increase, is there a limit to the capacity of an optical fibre communication channel? Professor Bayvel will describe the challenges and limits of communicating with light and the advances in optical and digital signal processing to maximise optical network capacity.

Polina Bayvel FREng is Professor of Optical Communications & Networks, and Head of the Optical Networks Group (ONG) at UCL. Formerly a Royal Society University Research Fellow (1993-2003), her and her group’s research has focused on the design of high-capacity, wavelength-routed optical networks and wavelength-selective devices. She is the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, including the 2013 IEEE Photonics Society Engineering Achievement Award. She was awarded the 2014 Clifford Paterson Lecture for her fundamental research in high bandwidth digital communications and nonlinear optics.

This event is free to attend and open to all. No tickets are required. Doors open at 6pm and seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.