Book reviews

The book is ideal for engineers, scientists and senior students who are interested in optical fiber transmission systems and the physical mechanisms that influence their design. Basic explanations of component characteristics, such as LED´s, laser diodes and optical fibers are given. Compromises that must be made when designing an optical transmission system are explained clearly. The quantum noise limit of signal detection (−77 dBm), for example, is derived for a 10M baud/s system with a 10⁻⁹ error rate. This is later compared to a practical receiver design that can operate efficiently with an input of −64 dBm.