A grand challenge...

Increasing
data traffic

Data traffic is expected to grow exponentially in the near future due to cloud computing, the internet of things, and 5G wireless. ​If maintained over long periods of time, this traffic increase can cause severe congestion in the fiber-optic internet backbone network, an event dubbed ‘capacity crunch.’ 
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Cisco predicts that the global traffic crossing the internet will increase with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22% during 2015-2020. [Source: Cisco Global Cloud Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2015–2020.]
A promising solution...

Link capacity optimization 

​It is possible to maximize the capacity of optical communications systems by using new optical fiber types that can accommodate future data traffic in a cost-efficient way.
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Simulation block diagram of a long-haul coherent optical communications system using mode-division multiplexing over multimode fibers (MMFs) . A single spatial super-channel is depicted for simplicity. The optical modulator (MO) and the coherent receiver front-end (Rx) are shown as insets (in green). Symbols: SLD =semiconductor laser diode, MO=modulator, CPL=coupler, PRSS=pseudo-random symbol sequence generator, QM= quadrature modulator, PBC=polarization beam combiner, PCTR=polarization controller, MMF=multimode fiber, OA=optical amplifier, MMUX=mode multiplexer, λ-MUX=WDM multiplexer, MDMUX=mode demultiplexer, λ-DMUX=WDM demultiplexer, Rx=coherent optical receiver, ADC=analog-to-digital converter, DSP=digital signal processing).

Current openings​
Two positions for new Ph.D. students are currently available. Candidates should have a B.S. or M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering or related discipline, and, preferably, a good background in communication systems, optics and photonics, and applied mathematics. 
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How to apply
Please send an email with your resume and transcripts to Prof. Ioannis Roudas at  ​ioannis.roudas@montana.edu