When Swin Transformer Meets KANs: An Improved Transformer Architecture for Medical Image Segmentation

Medical image segmentation is critical for accurate diagnostics and treatment planning, but remains challenging due to complex anatomical structures and limited annotated training data. CNN-based segmentation methods excel at local feature extraction, but struggle with modeling long-range dependencies. Transformers, on the other hand, capture global context more effectively, but are inherently data-hungry and computationally expensive. In this work, we introduce UKAST, a U-Net like architecture that integrates rational-function based Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks (KANs) into Swin Transformer encoders. By leveraging rational base functions and Group Rational KANs (GR-KANs) from the Kolmogorov-Arnold Transformer (KAT), our architecture addresses the inefficiencies of vanilla spline-based KANs, yielding a more expressive and data-efficient framework with reduced FLOPs and only a very small increase in parameter count compared to SwinUNETR. UKAST achieves state-of-the-art performance on four diverse 2D and 3D medical image segmentation benchmarks, consistently surpassing both CNN- and Transformer-based baselines. Notably, it attains superior accuracy in data-scarce settings, alleviating the data-hungry limitations of standard Vision Transformers. These results show the potential of KAN-enhanced Transformers to advance data-efficient medical image segmentation. Code is available at: https://github.com/nsapkota417/UKAST

Derivation and analysis of power offset in fiber-longitudinal power profile estimation using pre-FEC hard-decision data

Utilizing the precise reference waveform regenerated by post-forward error correction (FEC) data, the fiber-longitudinal power profile estimation based on the minimum-mean-square-error method (MMSE-PPE) has been validated as an effective tool for absolute power monitoring. However, when post-FEC data is unavailable, it becomes necessary to rely on pre-FEC hard-decision data, which inevitably introduces hard-decision errors. These hard-decision errors will result in a power offset that undermines the accuracy of absolute power monitoring. In this paper, we present the first analytical expression for power offset in MMSE-PPE when using pre-FEC hard-decision data, achieved by introducing a virtual hard-decision nonlinear perturbation term. Based on this analytical expression, we also establish the first nonlinear relationship between the power offset and the symbol error rate (SER) of M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM) formats based on Gaussian assumptions. Verified in a numerical 130-GBaud single-wavelength coherent optical fiber transmission system, the correctness of the analytical expression of power offset has been confirmed with 4-QAM, 16-QAM, and 64-QAM formats under different SER situations. Furthermore, the nonlinear relationship between the power offset and SER of $M$-QAM formats has also been thoroughly validated under both linear scale (measured in mW) and logarithmic scale (measured in dB). These theoretical insights offer significant contributions to the design of potential power offset mitigation strategies in MMSE-PPE, thereby enhancing its real-time application.

1.71 Tb/s Single-Channel and 56.51 Tb/s DWDM Transmission over 96.5 km Field-Deployed SSMF

We report an industry leading optical dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) field trial with line rates per channel exceeding 1.66 Tb/s using 130 GBaud dual-polarization probabilistic constellation shaping 256-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (DP-PCS256QAM) in a high capacity data center interconnect (DCI) scenario. This research trial was performed on 96.5 km of field-deployed standard single mode G.652 fiber infrastructure of Deutsche Telekom in Germany employing Erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA)-only amplification. A total of 34 channels were transmitted with 150 GHz spacing for a total fiber capacity of 56.51 Tb/s and a spectral efficiency higher than 11bit/s/Hz. In the single-channel transmission scenario 1.71 Tb/s was achieved over the same link. In addition, we successfully demonstrate record net bitrates of 1.88 Tb/s in back-to-back (B2B) using 130 GBaud DP-PCS400QAM.