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

Field and lab experimental demonstration of nonlinear impairment compensation using neural networks

Fiber nonlinearity is one of the major limitations to the achievable capacity in long distance fiber optic transmission systems. Nonlinear impairments are determined by the signal pattern and the transmission system parameters. Deterministic algorithms based on approximating the nonlinear Schrodinger

Neural-Network-Based G-OSNR Estimation of Probabilistic-Shaped 144QAM Channels in DWDM Metro Network Field Trial

A two-stage neural network model is applied on captured PS-144QAM raw data to estimate channel G-OSNR in a metro network field trial. We obtained 0.27dB RMSE with first-stage CNN classifier and second-stage ANN regressions.

Coupled-Core Fiber Design For Enhancing Nonlinearity Tolerance

Fiber nonlinearity is a major limitation on the achievable maximum capacity per fiber core. Digital signal processing (DSP) can be used directly to compensate nonlinear impairments, however with limited effectiveness. It is well known that fibers with higher chromatic dispersion (CD) reduce nonlinear

Fiber Nonlinearity Compensation by Neural Networks

Neuron network (NN) is proposed to work together with perturbation-based nonlinearity compensation (NLC) algorithm by feeding with intra-channel cross-phase modulation (IXPM) and intra-channel four-wave mixing (IFWM) triplets. Without prior knowledge of the transmission link and signal pulse shaping/baudrate,

Spectrally-Efficient 200G Probabilistically-Shaped 16QAM over 9000km Straight Line Transmission with Flexible Multiplexing Scheme

Flexible wavelength-multiplexing technique in backbone submarine networks has been deployed to accommodate the trend of variable-rate modulation formats. In this paper, we propose a new design of flexible-rate transponders in the scenario of flexible multiplexing scheme to achieve near-Shannon performance.

First Field Trial of Sensing Vehicle Speed, Density, and Road Conditions by Using Fiber Carrying High Speed Data

For the first time, we demonstrate detection of vehicle speed, density, and road conditions using deployed fiber carrying high-speed data transmission, and prove carriers’ large-scale fiber infrastructures can also be used as ubiquitous sensing networks.