Francisco Javier Vilchez

Fco. Javier Vílchez Bermúdez obtained his MSc Telecommunication Engineering in April 2002, from the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeria de Telecomunicació de Barcelona (ETSETB) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), after finishing a final year project that consisted in modelling and simulating routing protocols (OSPF and LDP) for IP optical networks. In March 2007, he obtained his MSc in Electronic Engineering at the same university (ETSETB/UPC), after finishing with honours a final year project aiming at modelling an InP/InGaAs HBT transistor with a selectively implanted collector pedestal.

Prior to 2008, he was working in some foundations and companies (ESADE Universitat Ramon Llull, Henkel Ibérica SA, Electronic Data Systems SA) performing tasks focused on control, management, maintenance, and customer support about computer systems and networks, for different technologies (e.g., ATM, Ethernet, Frame Relay, token Ring, X.25).

Tasks and Responsibilities

He joined CTTC in February 2008, and he is the Coordinator of the Optical Networks and Systems (ONS) Laboratory since November 2010. As a Researcher within the ONS Department, his tasks are mainly focused on the optical transmission subsystems research line, whose objectives are to provide multidimensional, resource-efficient and adaptive transmission systems, enabled for a centralized SDN control plane. In this respect, he is in charge of the design, development and assembly of optical subsystems prototypes, and also of direct-detection and coherent opto-electronic front-ends (for the implementation of S-BVTx and S-BVRx transceiver schemes).

As the responsible person for the ONS Lab, he has been in charge of coordinating and performing, with his own hands, several improvements in the former facilities, referred to as the Optical Networking and Systems Lab Operations Center (0.03 room), and the Optical Network Control and Service Management Lab (0.04). He also planned, coordinated, and was actively involved in the adhesion and adaption of the 0.02 room, to create the Optical Transmission and Subsystems Lab. With respect to the procurement, maintenance, and inventory of the ONS Lab equipment, he conducts the acquisitions with the fulfillment of government laws related to public sector procurements, providing the required technical reports. Also, he is responsible for managing the inventory lists of equipment for National and European audits and certifying bodies, apart from issues related to insurance claims, and the management/execution of the annual maintenance plan for all ONS Lab instruments.

Furthermore, since 2008 he has been collaborating actively with the continuous upgrade of the ADRENALINE testbed, located in the ONS Lab. In this regards, he has been responsible for the design, development, assembly, and experimental assessment of  hardware-and-software prototypes, based on optoelectronic systems, with the required interfaces for their remote control and integration to the Photonic Metro/Core Network segment of ADRENALINE. Finally, he is also involved in the operation and maintenance of the different platforms belonging to ADRENALINE, including optical systems, servers, and fibre cable laying.

Publications and Reviews

He is co-author of 1 granted patent and some 50 publications, with 8 journals of the first quartile. Moreover, he has assisted in reviewing many papers for the international conferences: ECOC2016, OECC/PSC2019, OFC2020, OFC2021, ECOC2021 and OFC2022.

Each year, he contributes to the CTTC Annual Report, providing an updated description for laboratory and testbed sections.

Since 2014, he has been participating in the edition of some sections of the CTTC Strategic Plan, being in charge of some sections of technical solutions and facilities.

Participation in Projects

He has been involved in several R&D European and Spanish proposals preparation and execution of projects. In particular, at the national level he is/has been contributing to the CICYT projects: RESPLANDOR (TEC2006-12910/TCM), DORADO (TEC2009-07995), FARO (TEC2012-38119), DESTELLO (TEC2015-69256-R), and AURORAS (RTI2018-099178-B-I00), also in the PROFIT/CIDEM DREAMS phase 2 (RDITSCON07-1-0017), and in the PIC4TB (11353) thematic network of excellence. He has been contributing to some of the proposals, leading some work plan tasks, and contributing to periodic technical and economic reports for the Ministry.

At the European level, he is/has been involved in IDEALIST (FP7-ICT-317999), STRAUSS (FP7-ICT-608528), 5G-CROSSHAUL (H2020-ICT-671598), METRO-HAUL (H2020-ICT-761727), BLUESPACE (H2020-ICT-762055), PASSION (H2020-ICT-780326), 5GCroCo (H2020-825050), ONFIRE (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2017-765275), Int5Gent (H2020-ICT-2020-957403), and B5G-OPEN (H2020-ICT-2020-2-101016663). In addition to leading some task, he has contributed to the edition of some deliverables for the EC, coordinated the edition of one of them, and participated in several joint experiments with different partners.

With respect to technological transfer, he participated in the CNIT ENERGOS project, he was task leader of one industrial project (with confidential data), and he has contributed in some proposal preparations and presentations.

Training Activities and Events Organization

He has participated as co-supervisor (2017), and as supervisor (2018), during the first and second edition of the collaboration agreement between CTTC and the City University of Hong Kong, namely the Overseas Internship Scheme (OIS). In 2017, he was the co-supervisor of two students during this summer training programme, overseeing their daily work, and showcasing their achievements during the final seminar. In 2018, he prepared a proposal for a structured and tutored project, to be assigned to the candidate that he later selected during the recruitment, presenting his progress and results during internal seminars.

In 2017, he assisted to the organizing committee of the 39th meeting of the Wireless World Research Forum (WWRF2017), with the aim at looking for sponsors.

In 2020, he has been part of the organizing committee of the 24th International Conference on Optical Network Design and Modelling (ONDM2020), performing the role of Contact and Web-conferencing Chair.

Dissemination activities

He participated as exhibitor during the “Saló de l’Ensenyament 2010″, at Fira de Barcelona.

Each year, he collaborates in the “Setmana de la Ciència” event activities, presenting the facilities and equipment of the ONS lab, and performing demos on ADRENALINE testbed to students from different schools in the area. Moreover, he attends specifics visits from some foreign schools (e.g., Higher School of Communication of Tunis, in 2018 and 2019).

He participated in the Day of Photonics 2020, a virtual event with the support of EPIC and the H2020 PASSION project, including a virtual tour of ONS lab. and the ADRENALINE testbed.

Membership

He is IEEE Senior Member since August 2020.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1048-2077