The infrastructure of data communications networks needs lots of fiber, semiconductors, and network equipment to bring data to the masses. Optical data networks form the backbone of today’s communications. Data centers, which seem to dominate any discussion of digital communications, depend heavily on fiber-optic connections from a few meters to many kilometers. Getting those bits…

5G is bringing higher bandwidth to mobile users, which pushes more data on the optical networks. Optical networks need greater capacity and more flexibility. Every mobile phone user expects 5G to let them download movies faster and more reliably than LTE networks. Plus, 5G will open the door to new use cases we haven’t conceived…