OFC, the premier global event for optical communications and networking, safely welcomed back thousands of exhibitors, attendees, and media from across the globe. Held 06-10 March in San Diego, CA, USA, OFC 2022 hosted 8,000 participants and 430 exhibiting companies.

Given its focus on inclusivity, OFC offered a fully hybrid conference experience. Critical members of the global community unable to travel to the U.S. participated virtually, by joining live Q&A and accessing recorded content within 24 hours.

The “OFC Demo Zone” also featured live demonstrations of research projects and proof-of-concept implementations in the space of optical communication devices, systems, and networks.

Such demonstrations occurred in a dedicated booth in the demo zone equipped with a table, a monitor, and a bulletin board. They are shown to small groups, favoring an interactive format with real-time exchanges between attendees and demo presenters. They included recorded video and live connections to remote hardware and experiments.

“Global optical communications leaders united once again to exchange information and demonstrate ground-breaking interoperability including the newly launched OFCnet, catapulting optical technologies and network advancements into the reality of tomorrow,” said OFC General Chairs Shinji Matsuo, David Plant and Jun Shan Wey. “Over the past two years, many of the best and brightest companies have been hard at work and were eager to show the world just how far optical advancements have come.”   

“Seeing some of the products live on the show floor and networking face-to-face with industry peers after a two-year hiatus from OFC helped make some of the latest optical innovations more concrete,” said Woo Jin Ho, Senior Networking and Semiconductor Analyst, Bloomberg Intelligence. “For example, OIF’s demonstration of Near-Packaged Optics and Co-Packaged Optics helped me better conceptualize some of the technologies that hyperscale clouds could be adopting into their data centers over the next five to ten years.”

Plenary Session

OFC’s impressive line-up of plenary visionaries showcased technologies shaping our world and driving innovation for a better future. They demonstrated the impact that the latest developments in optics and photonics will have on the industry moving forward. The plenary line-up included: John Bowers, Director, Institute of Energy Efficiency, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA; James Green, Scientist and Senior Advisor, NASA, USA; and Elise Neel, Senior Vice President, New Business Incubation, Verizon, USA.

Professor Bowers, a pioneer in silicon photonics, presented exciting recent developments: from small wafers on indium phosphide to the making of photonic devices on silicon. Elise Neel demonstrated the wonders of the digital transformation enabled by 5G and Verizon’s vision of the fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0. James Green took attendees on a journey to deep space, the Moon and Mars, and explained how critical optical communications will support upcoming missions.

John Bowers (University of California, Santa Barbara), Elise Neel, (New Business Incubation, Verizon), and James Green (NASA) gave plenary talks on the Future of Silicon Photonics and 5G to AI Communications and Exploration. Photos: OFC

Exhibits

Hundreds of companies unveiled new products and innovations at OFC. They reconnected with customers and conducted the business of innovation. Participants included: AC Photonics; Advanced Microoptic Systems GmbH; Aerotech Inc.; Aragon Photonics Labs; Broadcom, Inc.; CIENA Corporation; Cisco Systems, Inc.; Corning Incorporated; East Photonics, Inc.; Go!Foton; Infinera; Intel; LIGENTEC; Keysight Technologies; Lumentum; Murata; Nokia; NTT Advanced Technology Corporation; NTT Electronics Corporation; Santec USA; Semtech Corporation; Tektronix, Inc.; Viavi Solutions and VPIphotonics.

“We had a great week here at OFC and are glad to have the industry back together in person,” said Eve Griliches, Senior Product Marketing, Cisco. “It was clear the right customers were all here to see the innovation and new technologies that have come to market over the past few years.”

“We are excited to be back in person participating in OFC, the premier optical networking event in the industry,” said Rob Shore, senior vice president of marketing at Infinera. “It has been an invaluable opportunity to showcase our latest coherent optical innovations, including ICE-XR, ICE6 Turbo and our Open Optical Toolkit designed to help network operators overcome the challenges associated with the relentless growth in bandwidth in the edge and core of the network.”

An OFC Demo Zone offered live demonstrations of research projects and proof-of-concept implementations. Photo: OFC

OFCnet

In collaboration with the operator of California’s research and education network CENIC, OFC launched OFCnet, a live high-speed fiber path connecting CENIC’s facility in San Diego to the San Diego Convention Center, designed to accelerate the development and deployment of cutting-edge networking technology. CENIC’s high speed network is built on the Lumen optical fiber and colocation infrastructure. These ultra-fast connections are designed to increase scientific collaboration among diverse organizations across the U.S. OFCnet is the result of collaboration with: CENIC, Ciena, EXFO, Lumen, San Diego Convention Center, Smart City Networks, the University of California San Diego’s Qualcomm Institute and Supercomputer Center and Viavi.

“Ciena is proud to be the first to light OFCnet using our Wavelogic 5 technology to provide multi-Tbps, ultra-low latency capacity between the OFC exhibit and the CENIC network,” said Steve Alexander, Ciena CTO and Chair of OFC’s Long Range Planning Committee. “This ongoing collaboration will provide future OFC conference and exhibitions with a unique platform to showcase the latest advancements in optical technologies, systems, and networks, all operating in a real-world environment.”

Online Access to Content

On-demand access to paid conference sessions will be available for paid attendees, and additional content is available to all registrants, including Exhibits Pass Plus.

Health and Safety

In preparation for OFC 2022, show management followed all global, U.S. federal, California state, and local San Diego health guidelines. All conference attendees, exhibitors, vendors, and staff had to be fully vaccinated and show proof of vaccination with photo ID and wore masks in the San Diego Convention Center at all times except when actively eating and drinking.

About OFC

The 2022 Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC) is the premier conference and exhibition for optical communications and networking professionals. For more than 45 years, OFC has drawn attendees from all corners of the globe to meet and greet, teach, and learn, make connections, and move businesses forward.

OFC includes dynamic business programming, an exhibition of global companies and high impact peer-reviewed research that, combined, showcase the trends that are shaping the entire optical networking and communications industry. OFC is co-sponsored by the IEEE Communications Society and the IEEE Photonics Society and Optica (formerly OSA). Follow OFC on Twitter @OFCConference, learn more at OFC Community LinkedIn, and watch highlights on OFC YouTube.

Mark your calendar for OFC 2023, 05-09 March at the San Diego Convention Center.