Title
SDN control of optical networks: from network automation to quantum communications.
Abstract
Optical networks have played a decisive role in the development of the Internet and global connectivity. While however many of the Internet and mobile application that we enjoy today are based on highly automated processes, the underlying control of optical networks is still heavily based on human operation and individual skills.
However, recent focus on open networks has brought unprecedented potential for innovation in network control planes, including the inclusion of AI and machine learning in control plane algorithms. This talk will give an overview of the development of optical control planes in recent years, the synergic role played by open interface and intelligent algorithms, and its future evolution, including the control of quantum communications networks.
Speaker’s Bio
Marco Ruffini received the M.Eng. degree in telecommunications from the Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy, in 2002, and the Ph.D. degree Trinity College Dublin (TCD) in 2007, where he joined Trinity College Dublin in 2005, after working as a Research Scientist with Philips, Germany.
He is Associate Professor and Fellow of Trinity College and he is Principal Investigator of both the IPIC Photonics Integration Centre and the CONNECT Telecommunications Research Centre. He is currently involved in several Science Foundation Ireland and H2020 projects, including a new research infrastructure to build a beyond 5G testbed in Dublin. Prof. Ruffini leads the Optical Network Architecture Group, TCD and has authored over 150 international publications, over ten patents and contributed to standards at the broadband forum. He has raised research funding in excess of €7M. His main research is in the area of 5G optical networks, where he carries out pioneering work on the convergence of fixed-mobile and access-metro networks, and on the virtualization of next generation networks, and has been invited to share his vision through several keynote and talks at major international conferences across the world. He leads the new SFI funded Ireland’s Open Networking testbed infrastructure.