Editing Information Age (section)

=== Optical networking ===
{{further|Fiber-optic communication|Image sensor|Optical fiber}}

[[Optical communication]] plays a crucial role in [[communication network]]s. Optical communication provides the transmission backbone for the [[Telecommunications network|telecommunications]] and [[computer network]]s that underlie the Internet, the foundation for the [[Digital Revolution]] and Information Age.

The two core technologies are the optical fiber and light amplification (the [[optical amplifier]]). In 1953, Bram van Heel demonstrated image transmission through bundles of [[optical fiber]]s with a transparent cladding. The same year, [[Harold Hopkins (physicist)|Harold Hopkins]] and [[Narinder Singh Kapany]] at [[Imperial College]] succeeded in making image-transmitting bundles with over 10,000 optical fibers, and subsequently achieved image transmission through a 75&nbsp;cm long bundle which combined several thousand fibers.

[[Gordon Gould]] invented the [[optical amplifier]] and the [[laser]], and also established the first optical telecommunications company, [[Optelecom]], to design communication systems. The firm was a co-founder in [[Ciena Corp]]., the venture that popularized the optical amplifier with the introduction of the first [[Wavelength-division multiplexing|dense wave division multiplexing]] system.<ref>{{Cite news|last= Markoff|first=John|date=March 3, 1997|title=Fiber-Optic Technology Draws Record Stock Value|work=The New York Times|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/03/business/fiber-optic-technology-draws-record-stock-value.html|access-date=December 5, 2021|archive-date=November 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109042255/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/03/business/fiber-optic-technology-draws-record-stock-value.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This massive scale communication technology has emerged as the common basis of all telecommunications networks.<ref name = grobe>{{Cite book |last1= Grobe |first1=Klaus |title=Wavelength Division Multiplexing: A Practical Engineering Guide |last2=Eiselt |first2=Michael |publisher=John T Wiley & Sons |year=2013 |page=2 |isbn=9781118755150 |oclc=849801363}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=May 2025}} and, thus, a foundation of the Information Age.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sudo|first=Shoichi|title=Optical Fiber Amplifiers: Materials Devices, and Applications|publisher=Artech House, Inc.|year=1997|pages=xi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=George|first=Gilder|date=April 4, 1997|title=Fiber Keeps its Promise.|work=Forbes ASAP}}</ref>