Biography

Dr. Xu received his Ph.D. degree in the area of Optical Communications and Intelligent Signal Processing in School of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), at Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden. Following this, he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at KTH and RISE Acreo Sweden and a visiting Research Fellow at Technical University of Denmark (DTU). After that, he worked as a Senior Research Fellow in Optical Networks Group (ONG) at University College London (UCL). Dr. Xu is a Reader in School of Engineering at University of Warwick, and he is also an Honorary Lecturer in Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at University College London (UCL).

His current research interests include optical communication systems and networks, intelligent signal processing, machine learning techniques, optical sensing systems and opto-electronics. He is a Senior Member of American Physical Society (APS) and a Fellow of Higher Education Academy. Dr. Xu is an Associate Editor of IEEE Access and Journal of the European Optical Society-RP. He has been the Chair of Optics in Digital Systems Technical Group in Optical Society of America (Optica), and the TPC co-chair/members of over 20 IEEE conferences, e.g. GLOBECOM, ICC etc. He is the project manager for an EU Horizon 2020 Grant and a UK National Grid Project. He has published over 160 journal and conference papers (including over 30 invited) and 2 invited book chapters.

Research Interests

• Optical Communication Systems, Optical Transport Networks
• Intelligent Signal Processing, Machine Learning Techniques
• Transceiver and Channel Modelling for Linear and Nonlinear Optical Networks
• Information Theory, Signal Shaping and Coding Theory for Nonlinear Optical Systems
• Optical Sensing, Fibre Sensing Systems and Optoelectronics

Teaching Interests

• ES4C4 Optical Communication Systems
• ES335 Communications Systems
• ES327/CS351 Undergraduate Student Projects
• ES97N MSc Student Projects

Selected Publications

Full Publication ListLink opens in a new window and my Google ScholarLink opens in a new window (Citations 2810, H-index 31, I10-index 71) pages can be found here.

Optical Communications, Intelligent Signal Processing and Machine Learning

1. “A module to enhance the generalization ability of end-to-end deep learning systems in optical fiber communicationsLink opens in a new window,” [IEEE/Optica] Journal of Lightwave Technology, In Press, 2025.
2. "A low-cost multi-band waveform security framework in resource-constrained communicationsLink opens in a new window," IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, Vol.23(8), pp.9190-9205, 2024. (IF: 8.9)
3. “Coherent model for cross-polarization coupling from a single point-like perturbation in optical fibersLink opens in a new window,” [IEEE/Optica] Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol.42(15), pp.5302-5310, 2024.
4. “Autonomous microlasers for profiling extracellular vesicles from cancer spheroidsLink opens in a new window,” [ACS] Nano Letters, Vol.23, pp.2502-2510, 2023. (IF: 9.6)
5. “Revisiting the stress-induced birefringence in polarization-maintaining fibersLink opens in a new window,” [IEEE/Optica] Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol.41(15), pp.5097-5106, 2023.

Optical Sensing and Optoelectronics

1. “Dual-resonance optical fiber lossy mode resonance immunoprobe for serum PSA detectionLink opens in a new window,” [Elsevier] Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Vol.271, pp.117049, 2025. (IF: 10.7)
2. “Hollow-microsphere-integrated optofluidic immunochip for myocardial infarction biomarker microanalysisLink opens in a new window,” [Elsevier] Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Vol.248, pp.115970, 2024. (IF: 10.7)
3. “Lossy mode resonance optical fiber enhanced by electrochemical-molecularly imprinted polymers for glucose detectionLink opens in a new window,” ACS Sensors, Vol.9, pp.6185-6196, 2024. (IF: 8.3)
4. “Optimally configured optical fiber near-field enhanced plasmonic resonance immunoprobe for the detection of Alpha-FetoproteinLink opens in a new window,” [Wiley] Advanced Science, Vol.10, pp.202207437, 2023. (IF: 14.3)
5. “Liquid crystal -amplified optofluidic biosensor for ultra-highly sensitive and stable protein assayLink opens in a new window,” [Springer Nature] PhotoniX, Vol.2, pp.18, 2021. (IF: 15.7)

Academic Books

1. “Higher-order modulation formats, constellation design, and DSP for high-speed transmission systems,” Chapter 9 in Optical Fiber Telecommunications VIILink opens in a new window, Academic Press, Oxford, 2020.

Funded Projects and Grants

Professional Activities and Memberships

Research Teams

• Postdoctoral Research Fellows: Dr H Yan
• Current PhD Students: J Uduagbomen, Y Wu, U Hijjawi, Y Wang, F Tian, X Cai, X Zhou
• Completed PhD Students: Dr W Hu (2023), Dr C Jin (2023), Dr D Alqahtani (2023), Dr C Liu (2024), Dr J Wang (2024)

Vacancies

• PhD applications by excellent overseas candidates towards the Chancellor's International Scholarship (CIS)Link opens in a new window, the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC)Link opens in a new window, the Monash-Warwick Joint PhD scholarshipsLink opens in a new window and the EUTOPIA PhD studentshipsLink opens in a new window.
• Externally-/Industry-/Self-funded applicants to the PhD projects and the MSc by research projects
• Research Fellow applications via EU MSCA FellowshipsLink opens in a new window and EUTOPIA SIF FellowshipsLink opens in a new window
• Visiting PhD Students and Visiting Research Fellows

• Warwick holds a directory of scholarship informationLink opens in a new window for eligible international and national applicants

Topics for PhD Students and Research Fellows

• Machine Learning Techniques in Optical Communication Systems
• Intelligent Signal Processing for Optical Impairments Mitigation and Signal Detection
• Optical Sensing, Optical Fibre Sensing and Optical Biosensing Systems

Topics for Research Visitors

• Physical Layer Management in Optical Communication Systems and Networks
• Machine Learning, Communication and Information Theory in Optical Communications
• Optical Sensing Systems, Optical Fibre Sensing and Opto-Electronics