Page 12 - Optical Switching And Networking Handbook

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PREFACE

Before you begin to read this book, please take a moment to read these
introductory comments. The title of the book may be misleading for many
people:
For the engineering person, this may sound like the bible of optical net-
works and switching systems. Not so! This is not an engineering book and
will not dig into the gory details of bits and bytes, ohms and lamdas, and
so on. It will help an engineering person to understand the marketplace
for the products and services that will be designed. It will also show you
the application that the optical networks will satisfy. As I said, however,
this is not a technical book. Read it for what it is worth. If you want the
gory details, other books can meet that need. I would suggest that you log
onto McGraw-Hill’s Web site to find the many choices available.
For the financial and business person, the title may have a tendency to
scare you away, thinking that it is a technical book. Please persevere and
read on. This book was written for you so that you can understand the var-
ious developments and challenges to use or invest in the optical networks.
I tried to write this with the simplest of terms and with some storyboards
to make concepts more understandable. I also spent a significant amount
of time in developing and shaping the business market strategies. If you
are an investor or a VC who needs to understand the future demand for
the products, then I have addressed that. If you are a telecommunications
manager who is looking for the services from providers, I have addressed
that too!
This is all about the demystification process of the technologies. This
optical networking book is being branded as part of a continuing series of
books that are geared toward a specific market niche. The Voice and Data
Communications Handbook, the Broadband Telecommunications Hand-
book, and the forthcoming Broadband Wireless Handbook will all be a
part of a series. These will aid you in understanding the technologies
without the techno-geek jargon that is so common in our industry. Unfor-
tunately, we are a part of a communications industry that has a very dif-
ficult time communicating ideas.
I personally hope that this series will make up for that and clear the
way for your understanding.
—REGIS J.“BUD”BATES

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