Steve Alexander

Opinions expressed by ICN authors are their own.

With more than 20 years of telecom experience, Mr. Alexander is currently serving as Ciena’s Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Alexander has held a number of positions since joining the Company in 1994, including General Manager of Ciena's Transport & Switching and Data Networking business units, Vice President of Transport Products and Director of Lightwave Systems.

From 1982 until joining Ciena, Mr. Alexander was employed at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, where he last held the position of Assistant Leader of the Optical Communications Technology Group. Mr. Alexander is an IEEE Fellow and was the recipient of the IEEE Communications Society Industrial Innovation Award in 2012. He is currently an Associate Editor for the IEEE / OSA Journal of Optical Communications and Networking. He has served as a member of the Federal Communications Commission Technological Advisory Council, as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Lightwave Technology, as a member of the IEEE / LEOS Board of Governors, and was a General Chair of the conference on Optical Fiber Communication (OFC) in 1997.

Mr. Alexander received both his B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has been granted 18 patents and has authored a text on Optical Communication Receiver Design as well as numerous conference and journal articles.

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of Steve Alexander and do not necessarily represent those of IDG Communications, Inc., its parent, subsidiary or affiliated companies.

Our vision of the ideal network is as easy as adaption itself

To 400G and beyond: the arrival of adaptive networks and the next technology boom

To 400G and beyond: the arrival of adaptive networks and the next technology boom

The Internet of Things, virtual and augmented reality, and 4k-based video streaming have moved from dreams to reality. The network foundation that has brought these applications to life needs to continue to adapt, running more...

‘Tis the season for this year’s networking ‘naughty and nice’ lists

‘Tis the season for this year’s networking ‘naughty and nice’ lists

There’s a clear line in the networking sand separating the old and the new, the ‘naughty’ and the ‘nice.'

When networks hit the wall

When networks hit the wall

As more consumers turn to over-the-top video streaming services and viewers’ expectations grow – can quality of experience failures be avoided? Ciena’s CTO Steve Alexander explains how our current networks need to adapt to provide an...

Making smart cities a smarter way

Making smart cities a smarter way

With all the hype around smart cities today, you would think they are ubiquitous. Even though there are a few high-profile examples, smart cities aren’t yet as widespread as you might think.

Network check-ups critically important to a business' health

Network check-ups are important. Now, new analytics software makes it easy to check a network’s health and ID issues and remedies.

5 New Year's resolutions for the telecom industry

5 New Year's resolutions for the telecom industry

Here's a look at five New Year's resolutions telecom service providers can make for a healthy, happy and adventurous 2017.

Upskilling staff through disruptive times

Vendors, as well as enterprises, are responsible for training and upskilling staff on new network technologies.

The Pokémon Go effect on the network

The Pokémon Go effect on the network

Virtual reality and augmented reality are growing in popularity with the most recent example being Nintendo's Pokémon Go. But are today’s networks prepared?

Opening up networks to choice, at last

Choice in networks is emerging, and everyone—from consumers to data centers—stands to benefit.

5 IoT trends to expect in 2016

In the networking space, 2015 was the year in which the Internet of Things became more mainstream. So, how are things shaping up for 2016? Are we on track?

Protecting against the next great heist by encrypting in-transit data

Encrypting sensitive and mission-critical data while in transit is essential in today's digital economy. Encryption at the optical layer during transport provides a strong and effective safeguard, offering an additional level of...

Load More