Welcome Remarks

iPOP 2018 is the 14th anniversary of this annual International conference! This event which has been sponsored by Photonic Internet Labs (PIL) and ISOCORE since its inception, takes place May 31- June 1,2018, in the NICT Koganei, Tokyo, Japan. NICT is one of the largest national research institutes and laboratories conducting research on the ICT technology in Japan.

Last year's event, iPOP 2017, there were more than 300 attendees, a real success! This year we are augmenting the existing central theme of the conference with multi-sliced optical transport networks which can carry a multiplicity of services on one physical network. In addition, we have network topics such as SDN, NFV and service chaining while still keeping the focus on reliable, manageable, flexible and cost effective carrier and/or service provider networks. From last several years those networks are more focused on data-center, mobile access network integration like 5G. In other words, networks to support IoT or M2M infrastructure which provides future trends and they have different QoS and trustworthy needs.

Networking is now becoming software based and providing flexibility and programmability. Such NFV functions use bandwidth which are restriction-free optical links with delay tolerance. In addition, these carrier technologies are based on the newly developed AI or Big data analysis at the top of the network and will require coordination within network and create new services. These vertical integration or application coordinated network architecture is an important approach.

The technical program committee has put together an exciting program consisting of technical sessions with emphasis on presentations on SDN, Orchestration with data/network, PCE (Path Computation Element) with data analytic and its applications, and advance data-center network with Optical Devices. In addition, there will be technology showcases and other demonstrations in the booths that is always full of attendees.

We hope that you would be able to join us at iPOP 2018 and benefit from the presentations and technical discussions! We look forward to your participation and support to make the event a great success!

April 2018
iPOP 2018 General Co-Chairs
Naoaki Yamanaka
Shinya Tachimoto
Bijan Jabbari