Extracting key information from Academic Press's range of prestigious titles in optical communications, this reference gives the R&D optical fiber communications engineer a quick and easy-to-grasp understanding of the current state of the art in optical communications technology, together with some of the underlying theory, covering a broad of topics: optical waveguides, optical fibers, optical transmitters and receivers, fiber optic data communication, optical networks, and optical theory. With this reference, the engineer will be up-to-speed on the latest developments in no-time. Provides an overview of current state-of-the-art in optical communications technology, enabling the reader to get up to speed with the latest technological developments and establish their value for product development Brings together material from a number of authoritative sources, giving both breadth and depth of content and providing a single source of key knowledge and information which saves time in seeking information from scattered sources Explores latest technologies and their implementation, allowing the engineer to compare and contrast approaches and solutions Provides just enough introductory material for readers to grasp the underpinning physics, giving the engineer an accessible introduction to the underlying theory for a proper understanding