The Development of a Light Wave Communications Laboratory

激光电光技术系通过开发一个光波通信实验室来加强其课程。随着信息高速公路、1996年《电信改革法案》的出台，以及光纤行业在过去5年中的巨大增长，对受过光波通信教育的技术人员的需求将急剧增加。根据最近的一项联邦研究，到2000年，受过光子学(包括光波通信)教育的技术人员的需求将翻一番，达到740,000人。新实验室通过开发最先进的光波通信实验室来满足这一需求。该实验室包括两个工作站，每个工作站都配备了一个高速集成光调制器和支持硬件、一个熔接器、一个光时域反射仪(OTDR)、一个光纤衰减测试仪、一个光纤故障定位器和一个光纤终端套件。这些站可以设计成模拟真实世界的光纤通信系统，能够通过几公里的单模和多模光纤以高达2.5 GHz的速率传输模拟和数字信息。有机会获得实际工作的光波通信系统的实践经验，学生们将为在快速增长的光电子、电信或研发领域追求职业生涯做好更好的准备，或者继续他们的4年制学院和大学水平的学习。*

The Laser Electro-Optics Technology Department enhances its curriculum by developing a Lightwave Communications Laboratory. With the advent of the information superhighway, the Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996, and the tremendous growth in the fiber-optics industry over the past 5 years, there will be a dramatic increase in the demand for technicians educated in lightwave communications. According to a recent Federal study, the demand for technicians educated in photonics, which includes lightwave communications, will double to 740,000 by the year 2000. The new laboratory addresses this need through the development of a state-of-the-art Lightwave Communications Laboratory. The laboratory contains two workstations, each equipped with a high-speed integrated optical modulator and support hardware, a fusion splicer, an optical timedomain reflectometer (OTDR), a fiber-optic attenuation test set, a fiber-optic fault locator, and a fiber-optic termination kit. The stations can be designed to emulate a real-world fiber-optic communication system, capable of transmitting analog and digital information at rates of up to 2.5 Ghz through several kilometers of both single-mode and multimode fiber. With the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with an actual working lightwave communication system, students are significantly better prepared to pursue careers in the rapidly growing field of photonics, telecommunications, or research and development or to continue their studies at the 4-year college and university level. *