Speaker:
Brandon Buscaino
Talk Title:
Innovations for the Next Generation of Optical Communications
Date and Location:
Friday, May 9, 2025
4–5 p.m.
BA 5187 and online. Zoom registration link for virtual attendance.
Reception to follow
There is no registration required to attend this event in person. However, seating is limited, so arriving early is recommended.
Abstract:
Coherent optical technologies enable high-bandwidth communication across the globe and are fundamental to the fiber optic backbone of the internet. Research spanning the fields of integrated photonics, analog circuit design, and digital signal processing, has been critical in keeping up with an exponential increase in demand for bandwidth. This talk will review the fundamental technological breakthroughs that enabled the transition to coherent optical communications as well as recent developments in digital signal processing techniques that have enabled a 160-fold increase in capacity over the past two decades. Finally, we will discuss the frontier of coherent optical technology and explore new applications ranging from optical interconnects for AI clusters to distributed fiber sensing.
Biography:
Brandon Buscaino received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 2020 as a member of Prof. Joseph M. Kahn’s Optical Communications Group. While there, his research focused on electro-optic frequency comb generation and optical links for co-packaged data center communications. Since then, his research has focused on various optical technologies including short-reach pluggable coherent optics, long-haul modems operating at rates up to 1.6 Tb/s, and distributed fiber sensing. As a research scientist at Ciena, his focus is on identifying and developing novel technologies related to coherent optical communications systems and subsystems. Brandon is passionate about supporting the professional optics community via participation in technical groups, conference committees, peer review, and various professional development activities. He has co-authored over a dozen journal and conference papers as well as several patents and is an active reviewer for J. of Lightwave Tech., Chin. Optics Lett., and J. on Sel. Topics in Quantum Electron. In 2021, Brandon was awarded the Kaminow Outstanding Early Career Professional Prize from Optica. In 2022, Brandon was selected to be a part of the 2022 Optica Ambassador class.