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

Apply for a Summer 2026 Internship

Our exciting internship opportunities for Summer 2026 are now available. We are looking for students pursuing advanced degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. Internships are typically 3 months long in duration. The benefits of working for us include the opportunity to quickly become

NeurIPS 2025 in San Diego from Nov 30th to Dec 5th, 2025

NEC Laboratories America is heading to San Diego for NeurIPS 2025, where our researchers will present cutting-edge work spanning optimization, AI systems, language modeling, and trustworthy machine learning. multi-agent coordination, scalable training, efficient inference, and techniques for detecting

THAT: Token-wise High-frequency Augmentation Transformer for Hyperspectral Pansharpening

Transformer-based methods have demonstrated strong potential in hyperspectral pansharpening by modeling long-range dependencies. However, their effectiveness is often limited by redundant token representations and a lack of multiscale feature modeling. Hyperspectral images exhibit intrinsic spectral

Leveraging Digital Twins for AII-Photonics Networks-as-a-Ser­vice: Enabling Innovation and Efficiency

This tutorial presents an architecture and methods for all-photonics networks-as-a-service in distributed Al data center infrastructures. We discuss server-based coherent transceiver architectures, remote transponder control, rapid end-to-end lightpath provisioning, digital longitudinal monitoring,

Computation Stability Tracking Using Data Anchors for Fiber Rayleigh-based Nonlinear Random Projection System

We introduce anchor vectors to monitor Rayleigh-backscattering variability in a fiber-optic computing system that performs nonlinear random projection for image classification. With a ~0.4-s calibration interval, system stability can be maintained with a linear decoder, achieving an average accuracy

Digital Twins Beyond C-band Using GNPy

GNPy advancements enable accurate and efficient modeling of multiband optical networks for digital twin applications. The developed solvers for Kerr nonlinearity and SRS have been validated through simulation and experimentally in C+L transmission, supporting real-world network planning, design, and