We presently offer numerous undergraduate research opportunities (RealPlayer® video). If you are interested in joining our group, please email a current resumé to benlee@ee.columbia.edu.

NEW! Download the audio file (12 MB, 17 min) of Professor Bergman's interview with Phil Leigh of Inside Digital Media, Inc., entitled "Progress in Integrated Optics", aired on Dec 13, 2007. You will need to have a media player to playback the file. Click here to download the QuickTime media player for free.

Professor Bergman's tutorial at ECOC 2006, entitled Photonic Networks for Intra-Chip, Inter-Chip, and Box Interconnects in High-Performance Computing, is also available (7 MB).

The explosive growth in data centric traffic and demand for diverse services are driving the migration of optical communication systems toward packet switched networks. Optical packet switched (OPS) networks offer the unique combination of encompassing the enormous capacity of the optical domain while providing versatile connectivity afforded by individual packet routing. This potentially disruptive technology solution can provide ultra-high throughput, minimal access latencies, and low power dissipation that remains independent of capacity as it can truly capitalize on the enormous bandwidth advantage of dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM). For example, modern high performance computing systems require the exchange of large blocks of memory between 1000s of processors to occur with minimal transit latencies. Similarly, contemporary storage area networks require interconnection networks to transfer vast quantities of data between access points. Even centralized telecommunications systems (e.g. data routers) would clearly benefit by utilizing high-bandwidth high-speed packet routers. At the core of each of these applications, the advantages of WDM packet switched photonic interconnection networks are extensive.

The Lightwave Research Laboratory led by Prof. Keren Bergman aims to investigate these realizations of dynamic optical data routing in transparent WDM optical interconnection networks.

The overarching theme of our research activities is the migration of the optical layer from being a mere transport high-capacity link into the networking and data layers. To accomplish this, we design, architect, and implement photonic systems that specifically incorporate the critical advantages of manipulating information in the optical domain and provide high-functionality to the data networking layer.

We currently have several projects focusing on the critical aspects of achieving these research goals:

• Fully interconnected 12-port Multi-Terabit Optical Packet Switched Network
• Nanophotonic Interconnection Networks
• Intra-Chip Optical Networks
• Silicon Photonic Enabling Network Elements
• Physical Layer Characterization and Modeling
• Network Interfaces and Packet Injection
• Scalable Optical Packet Buffers
• Wideband Programmable Optical Routing Modules
• Ultra Low Bit Error Rates (BER)
• Bit-Parallel WDM Message Exchange

Funded by the National Science Foundation and by the Department of Defense.