W12: Workshop on Optical Wireless Communications (OWC’24) for 6G
Co-chair: Chedlia Ben Naila, Nagoya University, Japan
Co-chair: Takaya Yamazato, Nagoya University, Japan
Co-chair: Abdelmoula Bekkali, CTTC, Spain
Co-chair: Eduward Tangdiongga, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands
Keynote Speaker: Chi-Wai Chow, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University,Taiwan
Title: Role of Optical Wireless Communication (OWC) for 6G and Space Communication
Keynote Speaker: Nan Chi, Fudan University, China
Title: Intelligent new spectrum communication for 6G
Keynote Speaker: Toshimasa Umezawa, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Japan
Title: High-speed photonic device technology in Mobile FSO transceiver
Keynote Speaker: Abdellah Chehri, Royal Military College of Canada, Canada
Title: Machine Learning Techniques and Optical Wireless Communications: A Case Study
Abstract: Recently, optical wireless communication (OWC) systems have garnered significant attention for their potential in terrestrial, space, or underwater links. These systems are increasingly recognized as cost-effective, sustainable, and energy-efficient solutions to address the growing demands for capacity and quality in B5G/6G networks. Notably, high-power solid-state laser diodes are gaining traction for medium to long-range applications, while semiconductor sources like light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in visible light and ultraviolet wavelengths, multi-array light sources and detectors, as well as tracking and steering technologies, have shown remarkable advancements. These developments open up significant possibilities for low-power, cost-effective short- to medium-range wireless communication applications.
Despite the evident advantages of OWC-based systems, their design and implementation face challenges arising from the characteristics of optical beam propagation through the atmosphere. Various distortions may occur due to susceptibility to weather conditions, channel impairments, and the need for compatibility and integration with existing radio frequency networks. Overcoming these challenges necessitates further research on the OWC channel and different system components, as well as the development of innovative and more efficient techniques. This ongoing effort is crucial to facilitate the widespread adoption of OWC systems.
The OWC workshop aims to create a platform for researchers and developers from academia and industry to present, share, and discuss their latest work on OWC systems applicable to terrestrial, space, or underwater scenarios.
Workshop Schedule can be found here: OWC24-paper session_Schedule
Keynote Speaker’s Bios:
Chi-Wai Chow
Bio: Prof. Chi-Wai Chow (Senior Member, IEEE) received the B.Eng. (Hons.) and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Electronic Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), in 2001 and 2004, respectively. His Ph.D. degree was focused on optical packet switched networks. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow with CUHK, involved in silicon photonics. From 2005 to 2007, he was a Postdoctoral Research Scientist involved mainly in two European Union Projects, such as photonic integrated extended metro and access network (PIEMAN) and transparent ring interconnection using multi-wavelength photonic switches (TRIUMPH) with the Department of Physics, Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, Ireland. In 2007, he joined the Department of Photonics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, where he is currently a Professor.
Nan Chi
Bio: Prof. Nan Chi is with School of Information Science and Engineering, Fudan University, China. She received the BS degree and PhD degree in electrical engineering from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, China. She is the author or co-author of more than 300 papers and has been cited more than 13000 times. She has been awarded as The National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, the New Century Excellent Talents Awards from the Education Ministry of China, Shanghai Shu Guang scholarship. Her current research interests include optical packet/label switching, optical fiber communication and visible light communication. She is a fellow of the OSA.
Toshimasa Umezawa
Bio: Dr. Toshimasa Umezawa (Member, IEEE) received B.E. and M.E. degrees in electronics from Nagaoka University of Technology, Niigata, Japan, in 1984 and 1986, respectively. From 1987 to 2011, he worked for the Yokogawa Electric Corporation; he was with the Central Research Laboratory and with the Photonics Business Department. In 1992, he was a visiting scholar in the Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, and he received a Ph.D. degree in electronics from Tokyo University, Tokyo, Japan, in 1995, where he was engaged in research on superconductor devices, photonics devices, and their applications. In 2011, he joined the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Tokyo, Japan. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Institute of Electronics, Information, and Communication Engineers (IEICE), the Japan Society of Applied Physics (JSAP). His current research interests are E/O devices and photonic integrated circuits and millimeter-wave photonics.
Abdellah Chehri
Bio: Dr. Abdellah Chehri is an Associate Professor at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC), Kingston, Ontario. Before joining the RMC, he was an associate professor at the University of Quebec (UQAC). He has an affiliate professor at the University of Quebec UQO, UQAT and an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa. From 2009-2012, he worked as a research fellow at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Chehri completed his Ph.D. at University Laval (Canada) and his Master’s studies at University Nice-Sophia Antipolis-Eurecom (France). He has served as guest/associate editor for several well-reputed journals. Dr. Chehri is a Senior Member of IEEE, a member of the IEEE Communication Society (ComSoc), IEEE Vehicular Technology Society (VTS), IEEE Photonics Society, IEEE Public Safety Transportation Committee Co-Chair, and IEEE Canadian Humanitarian Initiatives Committee.
Co-chair Bios:
Chedlia Ben Naila
Bio: Prof. Chedlia Ben Naila (S’08–M’20) received the Ph.D. degree from Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, in 2012. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan. Previously, she was a Junior Lecturer at Iset’Com, Tunisia (2005–2008), and as an Adjunct Lecturer at Waseda University, Japan (2014–2019). She is a member of IEEE and OPTICA. She was the recipient of the 2011 Waseda University Ono Azusa Memorial Academic Award medal, the Best Paper Award of IIEEJ Journal (2012), the 26th Telecom System Technology Award from the Japanese Telecommunication Advancement Foundation (TAF) of Japan (2011), and the IEEE ITU-T Kaleidoscope Best Paper award (2011). Her current research interests include optical wireless communications, free-space optics (FSO) systems, optical intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS), and underwater communications.
Takaya Yamazato
Bio: Prof. Takaya Yamazato (IEEE S’91–M’93) is a professor at the Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Nagoya University, Japan. He received a Ph.D. from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Keio University, Yokohama, Japan, in 1993. From 1993 to 1998, he was an Assistant Professor at the Department of Information Electronics, Nagoya University, Japan. From 1997 to 1998, he was a visiting researcher at the Research Group for RF Communications, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany. In 1998, he gave a half-day tutorial entitled “Introduction to CDMA ALOHA” at GLOBECOM held in Sydney, Australia. Since then, he has been serving as a TPC member of GLOBECOM and ICC. In 2006, he received the IEEE Communication Society’s Best Tutorial Paper Award. He served as the co-chair of the Wireless Communication Symposia of ICC 2009 and was the co-chair of Selected Areas in Communication Symposia of ICC 2011. From 2008 to 2010, he served as the chair of the Satellite and Space Communication Technical Committee. In 2011, he gave a half-day tutorial entitled “Visible Light Communication” at ICC 2011 held in Kyoto, Japan.
Abdelmoula Bekkali
Bio: Dr. Abdelmoula Bekkali (IEEE SM’15) received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, in 2007 and 2010, respectively. He is currently Research Director with Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC), Barcelona, Spain. Previously, he was R&D Manager with TOYO Electric Corporation, Japan (2019-2024), where he was leading the development of next-generation FSO systems for fixed and mobile platforms. Previously, he was a senior researcher with KDDI Research Inc. (2014–2019), an Adjunct Lecturer with Wase- da University (2012–2019), a Research Scientist with Qatar Mobility Innovation Center (QMIC), Qatar (2011–2014), and a Researcher with NTT Labs, Tokyo, Japan (2010–2011). He holds ten granted Japanese patents in the field of optical and wireless communications. He was the recipient of the 2016 KDDI Excellent Research Award, the 2009 Waseda University Ono Azusa Memorial Gold Medal, the 26th Telecom System Technology Award from the Telecommunication Advancement Foundation (TAF) of Japan, and Best Paper Awards of IEICE Transactions (2009 and 2015), IIEEJ Journal (2012), and IEEE WCNC Conference (2014). His research interests include free-space optical communication, optical wireless communication, fiber-wireless systems, B5G/6G optical access networks, and radio-over-fiber (RoF). He was the Optical Networks and Systems Symposium co-chair of the IEEE GLOBECOM 2020.
Eduward Tangdiongga
Bio: Prof. Eduward Tangdiongga received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), The Netherlands, in 1994 and 2001, respectively. In 1994, he joined COBRA Research Institute, currently named Eindhoven Hendrik Casimir Institute, working on ultrafast optical signal processing using optical fibres with high nonlinearity properties and quantum-well and quantum-dots semiconductor optical amplifiers. From 2001, he participated in various European Union and national research programs targeting optical signal processing for short and medium-haul optical links employing photonic integrated circuits. He is currently an associate professor in TU/e working on advanced optical access and local area networks within the Electro-Optical Communication System group. His research interests include passive optical networks, radio over (single mode, multimode, and plastic) fiber combined with smart antenna systems, and free-space optics/optical wireless communication.
To submit a paper, please visit: https://vtc2024s-rr-wks.trackchair.com/track/2262