This is a complete and authoritative introduction to optical technology for communications engineers that includes detailed coverage of the latest emerging technologies. The book begins with an overview of contemporary telecommunications infrastructure and the characteristics of optical fiber technology. Uyless Black presents a detailed introduction to timing and synchronization in optical networks, as well as today's SONET/SDH optical transport network standards. He introduces today's powerful WDM and DWDM optical technologies, and reviews leading optical network topologies and restoration schemes. The book includes up-to-the-minute coverage of MPLS, switching in optical networks, IP-over-Optical, QoS, and optical bandwidth on demand. It is one of the first books to present detailed coverage of the new Optical Link Management Protocol, designed to simplify the configuration and management of next-generation optical networks. For every communications professional currently working with optical networks, or planning to work with them.