Project description
Miniature photonic 'brains' restore integrity in optical networks
Optical networks in which information is carried by photons, rather than electrons, have revolutionised information and communications technologies, supporting an explosion of new applications in many fields. Communications capacity has grown exponentially but is facing an important bottleneck due to hardware-related signal degradation. The EU-funded ALPI project is developing optical circuits that mimic neuronal circuits such as those found in the nervous system to overcome this barrier. In contrast to other computational approaches that are associated with high energy consumption, these all-optical novel networks can be trained to do their jobs efficiently, reducing energy consumption and increasing transmission capacity.
Objective
ALPI aims at the integration of a photonic neural network within an optical transceiver to increase the transmission capacity
of the optical link. Based on a deep learning approach, the new compact device provides real time compensation of fiber
nonlinearities which degrade optical signals. In fact, the tremendous growth of transmission bandwidth both in optical
networks as well as in data centers is baffled by the optical fiber nonlinear Shannon capacity limit. Nowadays, computational
intensive approaches based on power hungry software are commonly used to mitigate fiber nonlinearities. Here, we propose
to integrate in the optical link the neuromorphic photonic circuits which we are currently developing in the ERC-AdG
BACKUP project. Specifically, the proposed error-correction circuit implements a small all-optical complex-valued neural
network which is able to recover distortion on the optical transmitted data caused by the Kerr nonlinearities in multiwavelength
optical fibers. Network training is realized by means of efficient gradient-free methods using a properly designed
data-preamble.
A new neuromorphic transceiver demonstrator realized in active hybrid Si/InP technology will be designed, developed and
tested on a 100 Gbps 80 km long optical link with multiple-levels symbols. The integrated neural network will mitigate the
nonlinearities either by precompensation/autoencoding at the transmitter TX side or by data correction at the receiver RX
side or by concurrently acting on both the TX and RX sides. This achievement will bear to the second ALPI’s goal: moving
from the demonstrator to the industrialization of the improved transceiver. For this purposes, patents will be filed and a business plan will be developed in partnership with semiconductor, telecom and IT companies where a path to the commercialization will be
individuated. The foreseen market is the big volume market of optical interconnection in large data centers or metro
networks.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology materials engineering fibers
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering information engineering telecommunications telecommunications networks optical networks
- natural sciences computer and information sciences artificial intelligence machine learning deep learning
- natural sciences physical sciences optics fibre optics
- natural sciences computer and information sciences artificial intelligence computational intelligence
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-POC-LS - ERC Proof of Concept Lump Sum Pilot
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2020-PoC
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
38122 TRENTO
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.