Includes three Symposia, ten Panels, Special Sessions and the Rump Session. Each comprised of invited presentations on areas deemed to be of special interest to OFC conference attendees.
Special Programs
10:30 AM
16 March 2026
Room 502A
Scaling Networks for the AI Era: From Data Centers to Wide Area Networks
The explosive growth of GPU-centric AI, especially training large language models (LLMs), is driving massive bandwidth demands within data centers (DCs), across DC interconnects (DCIs), and over wide area networks. As LLM training expands beyond single sites, distributed training will further...
Special Programs
10:30 AM
16 March 2026
Room 502B
Satellite Optical Networks: Avoiding Vendor Lock-in Through Interoperability
Given the dynamic nature of satellite constellations, the topology of the optical network amongst the satellites will be changing as often as every few minutes. This operational reality, in turn, means that at any given moment a vendor's terminal on one satellite may have to connect to a...
Special Programs
2:00 PM
16 March 2026
Room 515A
Symposia: Beyond the Atmosphere: Architectures and Technologies for Space-based Optical Networks
As satellite networks evolve to meet the demands of global connectivity, scientific investigation, and secure communications, optical technologies are emerging as key enablers of high-capacity, low-latency links across multiple orbits. This symposium will explore the architectures and innovations...
Special Programs
2:00 PM
16 March 2026
Room 502A
High-Speed Optical Modulators for Intra-Data Center Links: Unlocking 400 Gb/s and Beyond per Lane
The bandwidth of the latest switch ASIC has reached at 200 Gb/s per lane. The next target of 400 Gb/s per lane is anticipated to be deployed in the industries around 2028. So far, several optical device candidates have been reported to achieve 400 Gb/s per lane and beyond, and their practical...
Special Programs
4:30 PM
16 March 2026
Room 502A
Probabilistic Amplitude Shaping after 10 Years: Where Are we Now, and What is to Come?
Since its introduction a decade ago, probabilistic amplitude shaping (PAS) has evolved from a topic of academic interest to a mainstream, near ubiquitous technology adopted across a wide range of optical systems — from traditional long-haul deployments to compact pluggable transceivers....
Special Programs
2:00 PM
17 March 2026
Room 502A
Machine Learning is Taking Over Optical Communications—But Which Algorithms Should We Use?
This panel addresses the critical need for an effective selection framework for machine learning (ML) algorithms in optical communication networks. ML shows great potential in challenging tasks such as nonlinearity compensation, network performance monitoring, and fault management. The plethora...
Special Programs
4:30 PM
17 March 2026
Room 515A
Symposia: Next Generation Interconnects for AI Scale Up Systems
Current AI scale-up architectures rely heavily on high-speed PAM4-class SerDes and copper-based interconnects. As scale-up network needs grow in domain size and extend beyond a single rack, new challenges emerge—key among them are the need for high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity often...
Special Programs
4:30 PM
17 March 2026
Room 502A
Artificial Intelligence in Optical Network Control and Management
Optical networks are under pressure from soaring traffic, disaggregation, and the demand for automation, yet manual management remains brittle in the face of complex telemetry and rising cyber-risks. AI offers a path forward: from auto-provisioning and predictive maintenance to real-time resource...
Special Programs
7:30 PM
17 March 2026
Room 502A
Rump Session: From Short Hops to Long Hauls: What Parts of the Fiber Spectrum Shall We Use, and Why?
Imagine hollow-core fiber has reached maturity. It is no longer specialty fiber; it is now cost-competitive with standard fibre. And hollow-core fiber has enticing properties:
• sub 0.1 dB/km loss,
• ultra-low nonlinearity,
...
• sub 0.1 dB/km loss,
• ultra-low nonlinearity,
...
Special Programs
2:00 PM
18 March 2026
Room 515A
Symposia: Generative AI for Optical Networking: From Design Automation to Self-Operating Networks
Generative AI (GenAI) will fundamentally change the way optical systems, and networks are conceived and operated. This symposium brings perspectives from experts applying GenAI to real-world problems in optical networking: network digital twins and optimization, synthetic dataset generation, and...
Special Programs
2:00 PM
18 March 2026
Room 502B
The Return of TWDM-PON!
The 10G TWDM-PON standardized in 2014 as G.989 has largely underperformed in the marketplace. There are various reasons why this came to pass, such as that the market didn't need the upgrade at that moment, and that single channel 50G systems became technically practical. Currently, there are...
Special Programs
2:00 PM
18 March 2026
Room 502A
How Do We Model Novel Fiber Designs Such as SDM Fibers, Hollow-Core Fibers and Other New Fibers?
Advancements in multicore and hollow-core fiber technologies require sophisticated numerical modeling and simulation techniques, ranging from geometrical analysis and multiphysics simulations to the creation of digital twins for optical networks. In recent years, the modeling...
Special Programs
4:30 PM
18 March 2026
Room 502A
Is the Ecosystem Ready for Multicore Fibers?
The exponential rise in global data traffic from cloud computing, IoT, AI, and 5G is straining single‑core optical fiber networks to their physical and economic limits. Multicore fiber (MCF) technology offers a viable path to boost capacity, efficiency, and scalability in the telecom ecosystem...
Special Programs
2:00 PM
19 March 2026
Room 515A
Special Session: Rethinking Networking Convergence from operational perspective: Towards a Data and
The telecommunications industry stands at a critical crossroads. Despite years of effort and investment, telcos continue to struggle with transitioning to a truly cloud-native, data-centric operational model. Initiatives such as CORD, ETSI NFV, vRAN, virtual BNG/OLT, and cloud-native Mobile core...
Special Programs
2:00 PM
19 March 2026
Room 502A
Optical Sensing as a Service on Transceiver and Fiber Systems: Catering to More than just Telecom In
Joint optical sensing and communication technologies have received extensive attention due to fiber utilization maximization and cost-effectiveness enhancement. However, several challenges remain in realizing Optical Sensing as a Service (OSaaS), including the translation of technologies into...