Modern communication technologies have revolutionized society and econ- omy on a global scale, and progress in this field is still breathtaking. Among the crucial features of these developments is the possibility to transmit/receive ever-increasing bit rates at lower and lower cost. This is due to some ex- tent to improved electronics, but it is much more due to the capabilities of opticaL fibre-based communication systems. Optical communication tech- nologies were initially introduced in order to improve traditional information exchange, but they have recently become a key prerequisite for...

Modern communication technologies have revolutionized society and econ- omy on a global scale, and progress in this field is still breathtaking. Among the crucial features of these developments is the possibility to transmit/receive ever-increasing bit rates at lower and lower cost. This is due to some ex- tent to improved electronics, but it is much more due to the capabilities of opticaL fibre-based communication systems. Optical communication tech- nologies were initially introduced in order to improve traditional information exchange, but they have recently become a key prerequisite for...

Devices treated include semiconductor lasers, optical amplifiers, modulators, wavelength filters and other passives, detectors, all-optical switches, but relevant properties of optical fibres and network aspects are included as well.