9420557 Verber ABSTRACT The development of a senior-level fiber-optic communication laboratory sequence is proposed. The content of the laboratories incorporates experience gained through the research activities of several members of the faculty of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Georgia Tech. This laboratory sequence comprises the final two courses of a four-course Area of Specialization (AoS) in Optical Communications. The proposed laboratory sequence has a number of novel features including a pipelined approach in which groups of students design a system component, evaluate the designs of the preceding class, and fabricate the evaluated design of the class before that. This not only gives the students experience in the important areas of design, evaluation, and implementation. It is intended that over time, a complete working optical network will evolve which an then be used as a test bed for the implementation of applications designed by later groups of students. In the near term, the Design Laboratory will be coupled to on-going research by the introduction of devices such as Er-doped fiber amplifiers, electro-optic modulators, and WDM components which are being used in current research programs. In later years, system and application concepts developed in the research programs of the Computer Engineering and the Computer Science Faculties will be introduced in a way which will enhance the relevance of the courses to current and future practice in fiber optic communications. ***
