The 2014 Conference is 9-13 March. Enjoy a retrospective look at the 2013 Conference.

OFC/NFOEC 2013 Concludes, Featuring Week of Latest Developments in SDN, Silicon Photonics, Network Optimization and More

After five days of sessions, workshops, panels, show floor activities, short courses and special events, the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC) wrapped up in Anaheim, Calif. yesterday.

The show featured more than 800 presentations, 550+ exhibitors and 12,000 attendees from around the world. Hot topics covered in technical sessions to post-deadline papers to show floor panels included software-defined networks, silicon photonics, 100G/400G network design, cloud and data center networking, and many others.

OFC/NFOEC’s most well-attended program, the Plenary and Awards Session, featured three high-level speakers on three diverse topics. Caio Bonilha, president and CEO of Brazil’s state-owned service provider Telebras discussed the country’s efforts to establish a national broadband network amid varying challenges, such as deployment in and amongst the Amazon terrain.

Stanford’s Nick McKeown, credited with co-inventing software-defined networking, gave insights into what exactly SDN and OpenFlow is and what it will mean for future networks.

ADVA Optical Networking CEO Brian Protiva gave a comprehensive look at the coming transformation of the network – from growth drivers and state of the industry to specific solutions needed to meet future challenges.

Hundreds of companies were on hand, showing their latest product offerings and services, and announcing the latest in areas such as 100G deployment, photonic integration, tunable SFP+ transceivers, data center interconnects, and new innovations on the client side .

The show floor theaters featured expanded programming this year to include topics on cloud services, silicon photonics, SDN and photonic start-ups. Market Watch explored key areas such as Metro 100G, packet optical convergence and optics in the data center. 

The Service Provider Summit was headlined by Telx’s Joe Weinman, who spoke on What Cloudonomics Means for the Network. Panels included Monetizing the Network – examining issues such as whether big data can help service providers in today’s economy and Acquisition and Integration Strategies in the Service Provider Realm.

Technical sessions provided attendees with insights into the latest research being conducted at top institutions worldwide.  Highlighted topics included a hybrid OpenFlow/PCE controller for more efficient remote control of optical networks, a record-setting optical link that cuts supercomputer power consumption by more than half,  a new technique for automatically assembling  a multicore fiber, and a new distance record for 400 Gb/S data transmission.

The popular and uniquely formatted rump session covered whether silicon photonics will unlock a new future for optical chips, or whether hype has outpaced the technology.

Special symposia on enabling the cloud and convergence of wireless and optical networking offered attendees an even deeper look at the latest in those areas, while a special tribute symposium to optical communications pioneer Tingye Li explored his 40+ years of contributions that spanned the entire history of modern optical telecommunications.

Conference and show floor attendees alike agreed this year’s event was alive and well – buzzing with the latest innovations and marketplace applications, while providing the top venue for researchers, engineers, business persons, entrepreneurs and others to meet, network and discuss the future of the optical communications field.  Join us next year as we head to a new venue – San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center, 9-13 March 2014.