Despoina Petousi co-chairs ECOC 2026 session on mode division multiplexing
Research explores compact photonic devices, machine learning-assisted design and new approaches to scaling optical network capacity
- Speakers: Despoina Petousi, senior engineer for advanced technology at Adtran (co-chair); Eric Bernier, leader of advanced photonics at Huawei (co-chair); Takahiro Suganuma, The University of Tokyo; Shizunari Aomori, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Hosei University; Yusuke Sawada, Sumitomo Electric Industries
- Topics: Mode division multiplexing
- When: Tuesday, September 22, 4 p.m. CEST
- Where: ECOC 2026, The Malaga Trade Fair and Conference Center (FYCMA), Málaga, Spain https://ecoc2026.org/ecoc2026
As demand for network capacity continues to grow, researchers are investigating new techniques to increase the amount of data optical systems can carry without significantly increasing size, cost or power consumption. Mode-division multiplexing is one promising approach, using multiple spatial modes to expand transmission capacity beyond conventional architectures
In this session, Despoina Petousi and Eric Bernier co-chair presentations from researchers at The University of Tokyo, Hosei University and Sumitomo Electric Industries. Topics include a 20-mode spatial and polarization multiplexer based on dielectric metasurfaces, inverse-designed mode multiplexers with footprints smaller than 10μm² and compact hybrid wavelength/mode multiplexers for future beyond-terabit optical Ethernet systems. Together, the research highlights how advanced photonic design techniques and machine learning-assisted optimization are enabling smaller, more scalable optical components for next-generation networks.