Optical Communication Systems: Limits and Possibilities

Telecommunications have underpinned social interaction and economic activity since the 19th century and have been increasingly reliant on optical fibers since their initial commercial deployment by BT in 1983. Today, mobile phone networks, data centers, and broadband services that facilitate our entertainment, commerce, and increasingly health provision are built on hidden optical fiber networks. However, recently it emerged that the fiber network is beginning to fill up, leading to the talk of a capacity crunch where the capacity still grows but struggles to keep up with the increasing demand. This book, featuring contributions by the suppliers of widely deployed simulation software and academic authors, illustrates the origins of the limited performance of an optical fiber from the engineering, physics, and information theoretic viewpoints. Solutions are then discussed by pioneers in each of the respective fields, with near-term solutions discussed by industrially based authors, and more speculative high-potential solutions discussed by leading academic groups.

Andrew Ellis is professor of optical communications at Aston University, UK, where he is also deputy director of the Institute of Photonics Technologies. His research interests include the evolution of core and metro networks and the application of photonics to sensing. He has published over 170 journal papers and over 25 patents in the field of photonics, primarily targeted at increasing capacity, reach, and functionality in the optical layer. Prof. Ellis is a member of the Institute of Physics and the Institute of Engineering Technology and a Chartered Physicist. He is an associate editor of Optics Express.

Mariia Sorokina holds a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship at Aston University, UK, where her main areas of research include neuromorphic computing, information theory, fiber-optic communication, digital and optical signal processing, and machine learning. Dr. Sorokina has published over 40 papers in leading journals and conferences, made over 20 invited talks, and acquired three patents, developing novel signal-processing technologies that enable communication rates above previously established limits.