Advanced Photonics Intelligence: Next-Generation Optical Sensing, Interconnects, and Signal Processing

The rapid convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing (HPC), and sixth-generation (6G)-enabled Internet of Everything (IoE) is driving an unprecedented demand for intelligent sensing, high-capacity data acquisition, low-latency communication, and real-time information processing across increasingly interconnected physical and cyber environments. As IoE infrastructures evolve from conventional device-to-device connectivity toward pervasive sensing and intelligent cyber-physical systems, the volume, diversity, and spatial distribution of generated data continue to increase. Conventional electronic architectures are increasingly challenged by fundamental limitations in bandwidth scalability, electromagnetic interference, energy consumption, and thermal dissipation. These challenges highlight the need for next-generation infrastructures that can simultaneously sense, communicate, and process information with high efficiency, scalability, and intelligence across both wireline and wireless domains.Photonics offers a compelling foundation for addressing these challenges through its inherent advantages in ultrahigh bandwidth, low-loss transmission, electromagnetic immunity, and parallel information processing. Advances in photonic integrated circuits (PICs), silicon photonics, advanced optical materials, and free-space optical (FSO) technologies are enabling increasingly compact, high-performance, and scalable platforms for sensing, communication, and computing. In particular, distributed and point-based optical sensing technologies can provide high-resolution and remote measurements over large spatial scales, while advanced optical communication architectures—including wavelength, polarization, spatial-mode, and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques—offer new pathways toward scalable and high-capacity information transmission. These capabilities position photonics as a key enabling technology for connecting the physical world with future intelligent computing and communication infrastructures.At the same time, the integration of machine learning (ML) and AI-driven signal processing is transforming optical systems from passive transmission and sensing platforms into adaptive and intelligent infrastructures. AI can enhance the interpretation of complex sensing data, mitigate optical channel impairments, optimize MIMO and multiplexed communication systems, and enable adaptive system control and predictive network optimization. The convergence of photonic hardware, multidimensional optical information processing, and AI therefore provides a unified framework for addressing the increasingly interconnected requirements of sensing, communication, and computing.This Research Topic aims to explore emerging advances in intelligent photonic systems that bridge fundamental optics with next-generation sensing, communication, and computing applications. Particular emphasis is placed on the integration of FSO, distributed fiber-optic sensing, optical MIMO and multiplexing, silicon photonics, PICs, advanced optical materials, and AI/ML-enabled signal processing. Topics of interest encompass intelligent optical sensing, distributed photonic telemetry, high-capacity optical and wireless interconnects, microwave photonics, optoelectronic oscillators, AI-enhanced optical signal processing, and integrated sensing and communications (ISAC). By bringing these research directions together, this Research Topic seeks to establish a coherent research landscape for photonic intelligence and highlight how optical technologies can overcome key limitations of conventional electronic systems while enabling high-throughput, energy-efficient, adaptive, and scalable infrastructures for future HPC and 6G-enabled IoE ecosystems.We welcome original research articles, comprehensive reviews, and perspectives addressing advances in optical devices, photonic architectures, intelligent algorithms, and system-level integration. Contributions that establish new connections between fundamental optics and intelligent optoelectronic applications are particularly encouraged. Topic editors: Cheng-Kai Yao, SHRUTI SHARMA, Pradeep Kumar, Dr. Priyanka Verma Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85492/advanced-photonics-intelligence-next-generation-optical-sensing-interconnects-and-signal-processing