Rump Session

Is there a future for optics in optical communications?

Watch Chairs Discuss Special Features at OFC/NFOEC, including the Rump Session

Tuesday, March 23, 7:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m.
Moderator: Robert Tkach, Bell Labs, Alcatel-Lucent, USA

Building on last year’s rump session OFC 2010 will hold a rump session devoted to the question: “Do advanced optical techniques have a place in future optical communication systems, or does the emergence of coherent detection and sophisticated digital signal processing obviate the need for such techniques?” Examples of Advanced optical techniques could be: optical-time-division multiplexing, polarization-mode dispersion compensation, chromatic dispersion compensation, phase conjugation, optical switching...

The rump session will be a spontaneous discussion among the audience members of of the question. Other than a brief introduction to the issue, there will be no scheduled speakers. You can participate by attending and raising your hand to inform the moderator that you wish to speak or respond. A slide can be used to illustrate a point, but no more than two slides can be used during each time at the microphone. Conversation will flow most freely if your slide is on a plastic transparency, but we will accommodate digital slides on USB sticks and possibly slides transmitted over the wireless network. You can send slides beforehand by email to rtkach@alcatel-lucent.com. The message “Subject:” should include “slides for rump session” and the filename should include your name. Email limits the maximum file size to about 7 MB. We will provide pens and transparencies for spontaneously written hand-drawn slides, which, after all, reflect the true spirit of a “rump” session.