The experimental activities are essentially of three types: classical communication, quantum communication, optical identification. In the first case, the communication system is able to generate transmission signals using amplitude or complex modulation formats with direct detection or coherent reception. Signal processing can be done both on the transmitter side and on the receiver side. The components present at the PNTLab allow measurements to be made at signaling speeds greater than 50 Gbaud through fiber optical channels that can also reach transoceanic distances thanks to the implementation of recirculating loop. The measurement setup is directly connected to the characterization optical table for photonic integrated circuits, allowing them to be included in the systems before being supplied with packages. At the same time and via dedicated fiber, the setup is connected to the racks responsible for the study of optical networks so as to allow the use of advanced systems in traditional or innovative networks.

As regards quantum communications, the measurement testbed, currently being set up, allows the transmission of quantum keys with continuous variable modes for point-to-point connections and distances theoretically limited to tens of km.

Finally, the measurement setup that deals with optical identification for authentication and subsystem identification applications at the physical level, allows to generate, in the optical domain, a fast frequency scan in order to implement coherent optical reflectometry measurements in the frequency domain with the ability to discriminate unique characteristics of the devices and in particular of component pigtails or waveguides. The three measurement benches, in principle, can be configured to operate simultaneously by implementing, on the same bench, user identification, quantum key distribution and classical communication.