Research and development on optical communication networks have matured significantly to the extent that some of these principles are being moved from the research laboratories to the formal (graduate) classroom setting. However, our curriculum has no course to fill this emerging void. A number of institutions have started offering such a course. Additionally, tremendous growth of interest on this topic has been noticed at recent conferences and in recent journal publications. These observations have led me to the decision to design and offer this course. The most unique feature of this course will be its timeliness to fill a void in an important and emerging networking topic. This course will better prepare our graduate students not only to undertake research in this area but also to handle industry jobs on this topic.
