NEC Laboratories America

Optical Sensing & Solutions

From early concepts and laboratory validation to proven field deployments on live infrastructure, we develop technologies that sense the physical world, transform observations into intelligence, and enable informed action. Building on our expertise in optics and photonics, we are expanding toward multimodal sensing, AI-powered understanding, and intelligent systems that interact with the physical world.

Deployed telecom cables, urban fiber networks, and emerging optical sensors provide a powerful foundation for observing the physical world at scale. Our research spans forward-looking theoretical studies, cutting-edge experiments, artificial intelligence, and world- and industry-first field trials. We transform existing infrastructure into dense, real-time sensing platforms capable of monitoring complex environments over large areas.

Our research follows a broad sense–understand–act vision. We develop optical and distributed fiber sensing technologies that capture physical phenomena; AI methods that interpret complex signals, combine information across sensors, diagnose events, and predict changing conditions; and intelligent solutions that translate these insights into decisions and responses. Looking ahead, we envision extending this foundation beyond optical sensing to multimodal sensing and autonomous systems, including robotics, that can perceive, reason about, and respond to the physical world.

Our current work spans optical sensing, infrared imaging and spectroscopy, radio-frequency spectrum sensing and AI-enabled sensing analytics. These technologies can detect, localize, and characterize vibrations, intrusions, equipment conditions, and environmental changes along an infrastructure network’s physical route. By integrating sensing with edge computing and AI, we seek to move beyond data collection toward real-time understanding, prediction, and automated response.

By uniting advanced sensing, physical-world AI, and intelligent action, Optical Sensing & Solutions aims to create safer, more resilient, and more autonomous systems for infrastructure, utilities, transportation, environmental monitoring, public safety, smart cities, and intelligent manufacturing.

Join Us

Are you interested in joining us? We seek the next generation of thought leaders in optical sensing for researcher positions. Outstanding applicants pursuing a career in optical sensing are encouraged to visit our careers page to learn more and apply for available positions.

Summer 2026 Internship Applications are now closed.

Exciting internship opportunities for Summer 2027 will be available on our internship page this fall.  We are looking for students pursuing advanced degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. Internships are typically 3 months long during the summer. The benefits of working for us include the opportunity to quickly join a project team applying cutting-edge technology to industry-leading concepts.

To apply for a Summer Internship, visit our Internship page.

Learn More

Want to learn more about our optical sensing & solutions department? Meet our team of experts, check out our blog posts, or read our latest publications.

Featured Optical Sensing & Solutions Research Projects

Latest Optical Sensing & Solutions News

Simultaneous Optical Fiber Sensing and Mobile Front-Haul Access over a Passive Optical Network

We demonstrate a passive optical network (PON) that employs reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers (RSOAs) at optical network units (ONUs) to allow simultaneous data transmission with distributed fiber-optic sensing (DFOS) on individual distribution fibers.

First Field Trial of Distributed Fiber Optical Sensing and High-Speed Communication Over an Operational Telecom Network

To the best of our knowledge, we present the first field trial of distributed fiber optical sensing (DFOS) and high-speed communication, comprising a coexisting system, over an operation telecom network. Using probabilistic-shaped (PS) DP-144QAM, a 36.8 Tb/s with an 8.28-b/s/Hz spectral efficiency (SE)

Wavelength Modulation Spectroscopy Enhanced by Machine Learning for Early Fire Detection

We proposed and demonstrated a new machine learning algorithm for wavelength modulation spectroscopy to enhance the accuracy of fire detection. The result shows more than 8% of accuracy improvement by analyzing CO/CO 2 2f signals.

Model transfer of QoT prediction in optical networks based on artificial neural networks

An artificial neural network (ANN) based transfer learning model is built for quality of transmission (QoT) prediction in optical systems feasible with different modulation formats. Knowledge learned from one optical system can be transferred to a similar optical system by adjusting weights in ANN hidden

A Study on Traffic Flow Monitoring Using Optical Fiber Sensor Technology

Traffic conditions of the highway, Ya traffic volume meter CCTV Because it is observed in the spot, such as the discovery of traffic disturbances which deviates from the observation spot it may be delayed. The traffic flow has a problem from the point observations data indirectly order to be estimated,

Size and Alignment Independent Classification of the High-order Spatial Modes of a Light Beam Using a Convolutional Neural Network

The higher-order spatial modes of a light beam are receiving significant interest. They can be used to further increase the data speeds of high speed optical communication, and for novel optical sensing modalities. As such, the classification of higher-order spatial modes is ubiquitous. Canonical classification