  We experimentally observe the nonlinear dynamics of an optoelectronic
time-delayed feedback loop designed for chaotic communication using commercial
fiber optic links, and we simulate the system using delay differential
equations. We show that synchronization of a numerical model to experimental
measurements provides a new way to assimilate data and forecast the future of
this time-delayed high-dimensional system. For this system, which has a
feedback time delay of 22 ns, we show that one can predict the time series for
up to several delay periods, when the dynamics is about 15 dimensional.
