Telecommunications Lightwave Systems Policy

Communications policy as been a fertile area for testing theories of regulation, subsidy and incentives, free speech, political participation, and the public interest. The capacities of new communications technology have changed markedly since much of the governing legislation in the communications field was written. Such a change is likely to continue and have considerable impact on specific communications sectors and in communications policy. This two volume set of analyses undertakes a review of telecommunications policy in transition--of actions taken and not taken, of goals pursued or ignored, of the adequacy of policy vehicles and their strengths and weaknesses. The authors evaluate three categories of policy problems: those of concept, scope, and judgment in communications policy; those specific to media industries and forces affecting them; and those concerning wider public policy concerns intersecting with communication.

The state of the art of modern lightwave system design Recent advances in lightwave technology have led to an explosion ofhigh-speed global information systems throughout the world.Responding to the growth of this exciting new technology, LightwaveTechnology provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of theunderlying theory, development, operation, and management of thesesystems from the perspective of both physics and engineering. The first independent volume of this two-volume set, Components andDevices, deals with the multitude of silica- andsemiconductor-based optical devices. This second volume,Telecommunication Systems, helps readers understand the design ofmodern lightwave systems, with an emphasis on wavelength-divisionmultiplexing (WDM) systems. * Two introductory chapters cover topics such as modulation formatsand multiplexing techniques used to create optical bitstreams * Chapters 3 to 5 consider degradation of optical signals throughloss, dispersion, and nonlinear impairment during transmission andits corresponding impact on system performance * Chapters 6 to 8 provide readers with strategies for managingdegradation induced by amplifier noise, fiber dispersion, andvarious nonlinear effects * Chapters 9 and 10 discuss the engineering issues involved in thedesign of WDM systems and optical networks Each chapter includes problems that enable readers to engage andtest their new knowledge to solve problems. A CD containingilluminating examples based on RSoft Design Group's award-winningOptSim optical communication system simulation software is includedwith the book to assist readers in understanding design issues.Finally, extensive, up-to-date references at the end of eachchapter enable students and researchers to gather more informationabout the most recent technology breakthroughs andapplications. With its extensive problem sets and straightforward writing style,this is an excellent textbook for upper-level undergraduate andgraduate students. Research scientists and engineers working inlightwave technology will use this text as a problem-solvingresource and a reference to additional research papers in thefield.

This pioneering, course-tested text is the first to combine communications theory with the physics of optical communications. Comprehensive and rigorous, it brings together an in-depth treatment of the physical characteristics of the guided lightwave channel with the study of modern methods of algorithmic-based communication in time and space. The many different levels at which a lightwave communication signal can be described are integrated to provide a unified explanation of how a commonplace bit stream is transformed into a physical lightwave, how that lightwave travels through an optical fiber, and how it is then transformed back into the bit stream. Background fundamentals such as linear systems and electromagnetics are explained in relation to modern topics such as channel models, encoding, modulation and interference, and end-of-chapter problems are provided throughout. This is an essential text for students taking courses on optical communications, as well as researchers and professionals working in the area.

This book analyzes the development of the telecommunications industry since the AT&T divestiture. The reference work examines the technological revitalization of the telecommunications industry from the perspective of global markets and from these trends considers the implications for regulatory policy in the future.

A comprehensive treatise on the components and devices of the lightwave explosion Multiple advances in lightwave technology have led to a veritable overload of global information systems throughout the world. Given the sheer number and growing importance of such systems, Govind Agrawal's Lightwave Technology answers the need for a comprehensive and up-to-date account of all major aspects of this rapidly expanding field. Components and Devices, the first independent volume of this two-volume engineering resource, is devoted to describing a multitude of today's silica- and semiconductor-based optical devices. Conceived and written by the foremost expert and bestselling author in the fiber optic field, the text provides detailed, in-depth coverage of both theoretical and practical aspects of the science, including: * Fiber optics * Passive and active fiber components * Planar waveguides * Semiconductor lasers and amplifiers * Optical modulators * Photodetectors * WDM components * Space- and time-domain switching The second volume, Lightwave Technology: Communication Systems, deals with the design and performance of modern transmission systems making use of these devices. Complete with chapter problems, a CD, and a Solutions Manual, this title serves as both a basic text book for students and a practical everyday reference for engineers and researchers in the field.

The use of radio-frequency communication-commonly referred to as wireless communication-is becoming more pervasive as well as more economically and socially important. Technological progress over many decades has enabled the deployment of several successive generations of cellular telephone technology, which is now used by many billions of people worldwide; the near-universal addition of wireless local area networking to personal computers; and a proliferation of actual and proposed uses of wireless communications. The flood of new technologies, applications, and markets has also opened up opportunities for examining and adjusting the policy framework that currently governs the management and use of the spectrum and the institutions involved in it, and models for allocating spectrum and charging for it have come under increasing scrutiny. Yet even as many agree that further change to the policy framework is needed, there is debate about precisely how the overall framework should be changed, what trajectory its evolution should follow, and how dramatic or rapid the change should be. Many groups have opinions, positions, demands, and desires related to these questions-reflecting multiple commercial, social, and political agendas and a mix of technical, economic, and social perspectives. The development of technologies and associated policy and regulatory regimes are often closely coupled, an interplay apparent as early as the 1910s, when spectrum policy emerged in response to the growth of radio communications. As outlined in this report, current and ongoing technological advances suggest the need for a careful reassessment of the assumptions that inform spectrum policy in the United States today. This book seeks to shine a spotlight on 21st-century technology trends and to outline the implications of emerging technologies for spectrum management in ways that the committee hopes will be useful to those setting future spectrum policy.