Free Space Optics: Enabling Optical Connectivity in Today's Networks [Paperback]

Heinz Willebrand (Author), Baksheesh Ghuman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 2001 | ISBN-10: 067232248X | ISBN-13: 978-0672322488 | Edition: 1

Free Space Optics will begin with the fundamentals of the technology before launching into FSO topologies, deployment issues, applications, and case studies.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Free Space Optics will begin with the fundamentals of the technology before launching into FSO topologies, deployment issues, applications, and case studies.

About the Author

Heinz Willebrand is the founder and chief technology officer of LightPointe. He studied physics at the University of Muenster and received his MS and Ph.D. from the Institute of Applied Physics in 1988 and 1992, respectively. In 1994, Heinz moved to the United States and held research positions at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado, working on several DARPA- and NSF-sponsored projects related to fiber-optics communications and free-space optics. Heinz was also a technical advisor in the Global Telecommunications Management Program at the University of Colorado, where he taught classes in fiber optics and wireless communications technologies.

In 1995, Heinz co-founded Eagle Optoelectronics, Inc., as a small research company with the goal to commercialize fiber optics and free-space optics communication systems. The company attracted research and development funding from several government agencies. In 1998, Heinz spun off LightPointe from Eagle Optoelectronics with the goal to solely focus on the development and commercialization of high-capacity free-space optics systems.

Heinz is well known in the free-space optics and fiber-optics communities. He holds several patents and has been an invited speaker at many conferences covering various technical and business-related aspects of free-space optics. Heinz is considered one of the leading forces behind the recent success of free-space optics in the telecommunication industry.

Baksheesh S. Ghuman is a technology marketing expert and was most recently the chief marketing officer of LightPointe. At LightPointe Baksheesh covered three functional areas: product management, market communications, and market management. He was responsible for executing LightPointe's global marketing strategy, ensuring LightPointe's continued growth and leadership in free-space optics. A technologist by training, Baksheesh has more than 12 years of marketing experience in the field of telecommunications. He has held similar positions at Sorrento Networks, a manufacturer of optical networking equipment, and Electric Lightwave, a regional service provider. Baksheesh's experience has spanned a variety of roles in the fields of access, transport, switching, and management in metropolitan optical networking for carriers, CLECs, ISPs, RBOCs, and other service providers and vendors.

Baksheesh holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Arya College, Punjab University, and a diploma in systems management from the National Institute of Information Technology, New Dehli. Baksheesh has both an MS in Telecommunications and an MBA with a Marketing concentration from Golden Gate University, San Francisco. He has also attended executive management programs at the Stanford University graduate school of business. In addition, Baksheesh has published several articles in leading telecommunications magazines.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Sams; 1 edition (December 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067232248X
• ISBN-13: 978-0672322488
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,233,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Reviewer from Academic / Technical sector, February 28, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Free Space Optics: Enabling Optical Connectivity in Today's Networks (Paperback)

Having read the book, I tend to agree with the first two reviewers since most of the Free-Space technology is distorted to suit the authors' products. I disagree with the last reviewer from New York. More accurate FSO references exist for research, academic and development purposes. It depends on the reader ethical technical standard to select the appropriate sources. With less than three months of publishing, the book is already on the used book list....

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Whose this book intended for?, March 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Free Space Optics: Enabling Optical Connectivity in Today's Networks (Paperback)

The book lacks a purpose. It bounces around really not making a point or a conclusion. I'm not sure who the intended audience was for this book but it certainly wasn't myself or anyone I know in the networking industry. The book is very slanted to the author's small start-up company and their products. It appears Ghuman is no longer at the company because the bio on the back cover states he "was" not "is" at the company. I checked the web site and there is no mention of him.

I suppose I agree with an earlier comment that better information on the topic is found in white papers freely available on the Internet.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read from a tehnology and market perspective, May 28, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Free Space Optics: Enabling Optical Connectivity in Today's Networks (Paperback)

The book captured how an old technology like FSO is capturing market share in a fiber and copper dominated world.

The technology description was thorough with just enough market info to keep me grounded.

I recommend it!