Nokia Bell Labs

We demonstrate a compact, high power tunable laser based on free-space hybrid integration of indium phosphide gain chips with thermally tuned low loss silicon etalons. By optimization of filter fabrication and laser cavity design we achieve 17.6 dBm output power. Integrated thermal control elements enable accurate and wide tuning without the typical external optical feedback or wavelength locking components.

We are again thrilled to be able to present the Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW) community with an issue of the Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, containing very interesting and relevant scholarship from its members. This issue includes 211 papers, of which 192 were accepted from the January 2024 cycle, and 19 were accepted from the July 2024 cycle. It reflects great efforts and contributions from external reviewers, Associate Chairs and Editors, who together have conducted a rigorous review process to select contributions of the highest quality advancing the CSCW field. As Track Chairs, we are grateful for the community's collective efforts to continue shaping and sharing CSCW's tradition of high-quality scholarship across the years.

We present key findings of the European 6G flagship project Hexa-X. An overview of the envisioned end-to-end architecture and key technical enablers is provided. We highlight the key performance and value indicators (KPIs and KVIs) for evaluating 6G systems. We present key findings based on the contributions made toward societal values in terms of KVIs, and performance evaluations in relation to the KPIs. Finally, we discuss the innovation potential of the enablers and the out-look of research and standardization toward 6G.

Ambient power-enabled Internet of Things (Ambient IoT) in cellular networks represents a significant emerging trend in both academy and industry due to its near-zero power consumption through technologies such as energy harvesting and radio backscattering. This article provides an in-depth review of the recent standardization efforts by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to integrate AIoT into 5G-Advanced (5G-A) system, highlighting key architectural advancements, lightweight protocol stack designs, and enhanced network functionalities. The core contributions include an analysis of the drivers, challenges, and proposed technological tools in the areas of network architecture design, device management, and service provision. Future directions for research and standardization are also dis-cussed, including mobility enhancements, bi-static communication modes, and integration with emerging technologies such as sensing and In-X sub-networks. This comprehensive exploration underscores the transformative potential of AIo T opportunities in shaping the future of next-generation IoT ecosystems and cellular networks.

Data rates in optical networks have grown exponentially in recent decades and are expected to grow beyond the fundamental limits of current standard single-mode fiber networks. As such, novel transmission technologies are required to sustain this growth, and space-division multiplexing provides the most promising candidate to scale the capacity of optical networks in a way that is also cost-effective. For fiber fabrication and deployment, it is highly beneficial to use fibers with a standard cladding diameter. Here we demonstrate petabit-per-second-class data transmission using a space-division multiplexing fiber that approaches the limits of spatial multiplexing whilst minimizing the required signal processing complexity. This is done by designing and fabricating a low-loss 19-core multi-core fiber with randomly-coupled cores, a standard cladding diameter, and supporting a wideband wavelength-division multiplexed signal. The resulting data rate of 1.7 petabit/s is the highest reported amongst standard cladding diameter multi-core fibers and is approximately more than an order of magnitude higher than is supported by currently deployed single-mode fibers, paving the way for next-generation ultra-fast optical transmission networks.

5G Standalone (SA) networks introduce a range of new applications, including enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC), and massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC). Each of these applications has distinct network requirements, which current commercial network architectures, such as 4G and 5G Non-Standalone (NSA), struggle to meet simultaneously due to their one-size-fits-all design. The 5G SA architecture addresses this challenge through Network Slicing, creating multiple isolated virtual networks on top of a single physical infrastructure. Isolation between slices is crucial for performance, security, and reliability. Each slice owns virtual resources, based on the physical resources (e.g., CPU, memory, antennas, and network interfaces) shared by the overall infrastructure. In this demo, we define and showcase a real-life Proof of Concept (PoC), which enables Network Slicing guaranteeing isolation between slices in 5G SA networks, for each network domain i.e., Radio Access Network (RAN), Transport Network (TN), and 5G Core (5GC) network.

Stable lasers are essential in precision optical systems, where noise suppression and extended locking range are critical for long-term stability. However, conventional stabilization techniques often involve trade-offs between achievable phase noise, complexity, scalability, and locking range. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a modulation-free laser stabilization system that integrates a cavity-coupled Mach-Zehnder interferometer (CCMZI) with an aided acquisition (AAQ) system (CCMZI-AAQ). The implemented CCMZI-AAQ, fabricated on a commercially available low-loss silicon nitride (SiN) photonic integrated chip, achieves more than 36 dB of laser frequency noise suppression at 1 kHz offset frequency and extends the locking range to the full free spectral range (FSR) of the on-chip micro-ring resonator (MRR), 3.95 GHz—representing an order-of-magnitude improvement over the stand-alone CCMZI. This compact and scalable photonic chip, occupying just 5.43 mm², demonstrates significant potential for integrated low-noise lasers in applications such as fiber sensing and optical communication.

The rapid adoption of ear-worn devices (earables) has shown significant potential for continuous health monitoring. Despite their close proximity to the human brain and diverse sensing capabilities, the exploration of earable sensing in relation to cognitive function remains underexplored. Building on theoretical and empirical foundations regarding the interplay between cognitive load, auditory complexity, and changes in hearing characteristics influenced by brain function, this study is the first to leverage earable acoustic sensing to assess cognitive load. We specifically designed auditory tasks to elicit four levels of cognitive load and used otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) to measure cochlear response changes in response to cognitive load. By utilizing both audio content indicating auditory complexity and OAEs reflecting hearing characteristic changes, we designed machine learning pipelines to automate the assessment in a four-class cognitive detection task, achieving an accuracy of 68.88%. This research opens a new pathway for using earable acoustic sensing in monitoring cognitive function and holds great potential for future cognitive augmentation.