This book delivers far more than may be anticipated from its title. As would be expected, the book treats the physical components of optical communications systems. But it goes way beyond that by treating details of communications and information theory, which become increasingly important as lightwave communications systems evolve in complexity. Thus, for example, communication techniques developed for multiple-input, multiple-output are now needed for lightwave communications. This book provides the reader with insights into such approaches, even taking the reader to concepts of quantum information.
The book is aimed at advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students. In this respect, parts of the the book have been trialed at a number of universities. The authors indicate how various combinations of the contents may be deployed to meet the needs of a number of audiences. Overall, an extremely well-constructed book which deserves widespread utilisation.
Review by K. Alan Shore, Bangor University, U.K.
The opinions expressed in the book review section are those of the reviewer and do not necessarily reflect those of OPN or OSA