The OFC Conference and Exhibition in San Diego Concludes Showcasing Breakthrough Innovations in 5G, Artificial Intelligence, Co-Packaging, Data Center Optics and Machine Learning

SAN DIEGO, March 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 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, joining live Q&A discussions and gaining access to recorded content within 24 hours.

"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.

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."

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.

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

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 (IEEE/ComSoc) and the IEEE Photonics Society and co-sponsored and managed by Optica (formerly OSA). OFC in 2022 will be presented in a hybrid format with in-person and virtual components and will take place 06-10 March 2022 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California, USA. Follow OFC on Twitter @OFCConference, learn more at OFC Community LinkedIn, and watch highlights on OFC YouTube.

Media Contact:
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SOURCE The Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC)