The EU-funded SENSEI project aims to develope advanced tools to transform global telecommunications network into large-scale distributed sensing systems.
Global telecommunications networks, essential to modern society, remain largely underutilised when it comes to sensing hazards and detecting system failures. The EU-funded SENSEI project aims to change this by developing advanced tools to transform these networks into large-scale distributed sensing systems. Through cutting-edge photonic technologies, SENSEI will measure deformations in optical cables with exceptional sensitivity and resolution. The project leverages low-phase-noise lasers and pursues their integration into photonic chips, a critical step towards cost-effective, scalable, and mass-producible solutions.
In parallel, SENSEI will design a smart network architecture that incorporates these new sensing elements into the control layer of telecommunication networks. This will enable real-time data processing to support self-healing capabilities, early hazard detection, and more sustainable use of network resources. The overarching goal is to infuse networks with intelligence and context-awareness—turning them into tools for disaster mitigation, infrastructure protection, and scientific research.
Bringing together experts in photonics, optical networking, seismology, and telecommunications, the SENSEI consortium places a strong emphasis on real-world testing using fibre networks shared with live data traffic. These long-term experimental campaigns will generate unprecedented datasets. The findings will be made available to the scientific community, contributing to a smarter, more resilient, and safer global infrastructure.
Project objective
The SENSEI project seeks to develop novel tools and methods to operate global telecommunication networks as large-scale distributed sensors. It will pioneer photonic techniques for interferometric measurements of optical cable deformations with high sensitivity and resolution, using low-phase-noise laser sources. One of the project's key goals is the on-chip integration of these lasers, addressing current limitations related to size, cost, and scalability.
Simultaneously, SENSEI will create an advanced network architecture in which the new sensing elements are visible to the network control layer alongside standard components. The resulting data will be processed and converted into actionable insights. This architecture will enable more sustainable operations through smarter resource use, provide self-healing capabilities via early detection of soft failures, and support rapid response to hazards for the protection of populations and critical infrastructure.
By uniting photonics developers, optical network experts, seismologists, and telecom providers, SENSEI promotes a multidisciplinary approach. The project prioritises long-term experimental validation in live fibre networks and aims to enhance the interpretation and utility of collected data for applications in telecommunications, research, public safety, and urban management.