Customer Reviews

Fiber-Optic Communication Systems (Wiley Series in Microwave and Optical Engineering)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

To the 2 folks who gave the book a 1 star. It is not a book for people who are new to the industry, people with little mathematical background, or for beginners. The book is more or less straight forward for people who come from physics or optics backgrounds and have had at least 1 year of graduate school. In fact, there are quite a few useful and practical things in this book both for component and systems designers. I have found this book to be excellent both in industry and in academic environments. I highly recommend this book.

If you read past the first few chapters you will discover that Agrawal provides you with a generous easy to understand explanation of the various aspects of the technology while simultaneously treating the most elevated aspects using advanced mathematical formulae. He has crafted an excursion through the technology that has something for all levels of expertise. Note that some patience and a second reading could be useful. However if you are in or around the business of communicating via fiber, this belongs on your bookshelf and you owe yourself at least two readings. It is that good. Hint: If you do not possess at least a Bachelors Degree in solid state physics, start reading at chapter 5.

I read this book studying one of the courses during my Ph.D. and it definitely belongs to my bookshelf. My only complain was that while the basic theory and concepts are given well, the very recent developments are hardly systematized, notably in the chapter on optical networks. I am not sure however if this could be done better. The book also contains a number of errors.

This is GREAT book for people who have at least the basic optics and electrical engineering concepts, even if they dont have technical degrees, and who feel comfortable with the mathematical treatment of a subject, even when they dont understand every little detail. Actually about a third of the book can be understood easily by anyone interested in the subject, but if you cannot "read" mathematics and have never seen logarithms or partial derivatives before, then I recommend "Understanding Fiber Optics" by Hecht or a similar non-mathematical treatment of the subject.

Overall the book follows a very logical pattern in its treatment of the subject. It is an overview-style book, covering the different parts of a fiber-optic communications system individually, and then tying them together (which I thought was the most useful feature of the book). Even though it covers many practial issues, it tends to read more like a physics/optics textbook than an engineering textbook or a lab manual.

In summary if you have the basic optics/e.e. knowledge and are comfortable thinking mathematically, this is a great overview book for you, but if are a first time reader trying to learn about fiber optics, stay away from this book or use it as a second, 'reference' book only.

If you are a beginner or student who has little or no knowledge of fiber optics and intends to understand it, do not buy this book. This book has only briefs on theories and lacks on application.