Fiber Optic Telecommunications Technology and Systems – A Two-Course Sequence for a Telecommunications Engineering Technology MS Program

The continuing growth of telecommunication networks is currently dominated by two technologies: fiber optics (or optical networking) and wireless. The Telecommunications Engineering Technology program at RIT, as part of its continuous improvement program, has been developing and updating courses in these important areas. This paper describes a two-course sequence in fiber optic telecommunication technology and systems. The first course in the sequence was introduced in the spring of 2001 as an advanced undergraduate elective. It has proven to be a popular course and has run at least once per year since then. The second course has just been completed and will be offered this spring (2005). The paper begins with a brief overview of fiber optic telecommunication, including some recent forecasts of the future of optical networking. The next two sections describe each of the two courses and the last section is a short summary

Incorporation Of Broadband Access Technology In A Telecommunications Engineering Technology Program

The so-called “last mile” of the telecommunications network, which links residences and business locations to the network, has traditionally been the last bastion of old technology. Residential voice service is still mostly provided via an analog signal over a pair of copper wires that connects the telephone to a switching system in a central office. The high-speed digital technology employed by modern switching systems and inter-office transmission systems does not extend to most residences. The local access network is a landscape of copper wires bound into large cables, splices, cross-boxes and other equipment that has provided voice-grade service over the years. However, the landscape is changing dramatically as both residential and business customers demand more and more bandwidth for a growing number of services including high-speed Internet access and video as well as voice. Telcos such as AT&T and Verizon as well as Multi-Service Operators (MSOs) are both vying to provide the “triple play” (voice, data and video) to these customers. In order to provide the triple play, service providers are introducing digital transmission and optical fiber, which have revolutionized long-haul communication, to the local access network. The Telecommunication Engineering Technology program at RIT is responding to this trend by providing courses and laboratory facilities to introduce students to the associated technology. Our Telecommunication Systems Laboratory now features both passive optical network (PON) and hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) technology. These are two leading approaches to provide broadband access to support the triple play. In addition, we are developing new courses to cover topics such as video transmission and broadband network engineering. This paper presents the current status of our laboratory and course development along with our plans for future enhancements

Accelerating scientific discovery through computation and visualization

The rate of scientific discovery can be accelerated through computation and visualization. This acceleration results from the synergy of expertise, computing tools, and hardware for enabling high-performance computation, information science, and visualization that is provided by a team of computation and visualization scientists collaborating in a peer-to-peer effort with the research scientists. In the context of this discussion, high performance refers to capabilities beyond the current state of the art in desktop computing. To be effective in this arena, a team comprising a critical mass of talent, parallel computing techniques, visualization algorithms, advanced visualization hardware, and a recurring investment is required to stay beyond the desktop capabilities. This article describes, through examples, how the Scientific Applications and Visualization Group (SAVG) at NIST has utilized high performance parallel computing and visualization to accelerate scientific discovery. The examples include scientific collaborations that have advanced research in the following areas: (1) Bose-Einstein condensate modeling, (2) fluid flow in porous materials and in other complex geometries, (3) flows in suspensions, (4) X-ray absorption, (5) dielectric breakdown modeling, and (6) dendritic growth in alloys