Optical Networks, 3rd Edition

Foreword

Paul E. Green Jr.

Director, Optical Network Technology, Tellabs, Inc.

Not too many years ago, whenever one wanted to send messages effectively, there were really only two choices—send them by wire or send them by radio. This situation lasted for decades until the mid-1960s, when the fiber optics revolution began, quietly at first, and then with increasing force as people began to appreciate that sending pulses of light through tiny strands of glass wasn’t so crazy after all. This revolution is now in full cry, with 4000 strand miles of fiber being installed per day, just in the United States alone. Fiber has been displacing wire in many applications, and gradually it is emerging as one of the two dominant Cinderella transmission technologies ...