Pragmatic teaching of advanced optical networks: connecting physics, optical technology and networks

Advancements in communications technology and communications services have triggered a global appetite for bandwidth. This appetite contributes to an increasing bandwidth demand that can only be met with a new optical technology known as dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM). This technology has appealed to graduate students manifested by an enrollment increase in telecommunications. What makes DWDM possible is photonic technology that is based on principles of solid state physics, optics, and photonics. Although such courses are taught in a physics curriculum, currently they are not considered core courses in electrical and computer engineering. For the first time, physics, photonic technology and communications networks need to be aligned and sequenced to a comprehensive optical communications curriculum. In this paper, we describe the teaching philosophy of optical networking for the TCOM graduate program of the University of Oklahoma at Tulsa.