SFP transceivers made for CWDM applications
US component and subsystem vendor Stratos International released a series of high-performance CWDM optical transceivers. Housed in high-density, small form-factor pluggable packages, the transceivers use an avalanche photodiode detector to enable transmission distances of up to 80 km. Available for SDH STM-16 and SONET OC-48 applications, the devices are rated to 2.67 Gbit/s to accommodate forward-error correction. The transceivers contain distributed-feedback lasers and are available with wavelengths of 1470, 1490, 1510, 1530, 1550, 1570, 1590 and 1610 nm.
www.stratoslightwave.com
Traffic aggregator can extend the life of WANs
The LTA41-E1 traffic aggregator allows four local users to share a single fibre link, connect at a total rate of 100 Mbit/s and save up to 75% on active and passive network infrastructure. That's the claim of Israeli systems vendor FibroLAN. The device also incorporates up to two E1 channels tunnelled over the fibre link, which enables carriers to upgrade an installed wide-area network (WAN) fibre base to deliver both Ethernet and E1. At a standard half-rack size, the aggregator offers economical installation.
www.fibrolan.com
RPR controllers focus on high-speed networks
Alliance Semiconductor's family of Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) controllers supports the IEEE 802.17 RPR standard at various line interface speeds, including OC-12, OC-48 and OC-192 for SONET, and 2.5 Gbit/s and 10 Gbit/s for Ethernet. The US chip maker says that the AS95L2100 RPR controllers exploit a patented adaptive computing architecture, with adaptive logic optimized for RPR packet handling, to guarantee wire-speed processing. Alliance claims that the AS95L2100 family is the industry's first to terminate up to four full rings (eight ringlets) on a single controller, increasing the number of rings supported per line card and ramping system capacity. The firm offers three devices: the AS95L2100 (with a bandwidth of 20 Gbit/s), the AS95L2102 (10 Gbit/s maximum bandwidth) and the AS95L2101 (5 Gbit/s maximum bandwidth).
www.alsc.com
Cable analyser series cuts certification time
The DTX CableAnalyzer series from Fluke Networks, US, significantly reduces total certification time by improving the speed, accuracy and diagnostic capability of testing. Suitable for use with Cat 5e, Cat 6, Class F and fibre-optic cabling, the analysers are claimed to be the fastest, most reliable cable testers on the market.
The DTX Series is available with optional multimode and singlemode fibre test modules. These can be left on the unit during copper tests, allowing immediate testing of fibre or copper without swapping adapters. The fibre Autotest provides standards-compliant certification by testing two fibres, each at two wavelengths, measuring length and determining pass/fail status in about 12 s, said to be five times as fast as alternative methods.
www.flukenetworks.com
In-line polarizer claims lowest insertion losses
Phoenix Photonics, UK, launched a compact, high-performance in-line fibre-optic polarizer that offers a high extinction ratio (above 55 dB), low insertion loss (below 0.2 dB) and near-zero back reflection (less than -70 dB).
The specialized device is available in three configurations: singlemode/singlemode (30 mm in length and 2 mm in diameter); singlemode/polarization maintaining (50 mm, 3 mm); and polarization maintaining/polarization maintaining (80 mm, 3 mm).
www.phoenixphotonics.com
Swept-frequency laser offers rapid integration
iolon launched a swept-frequency laser that delivers more than 55 nm of mode-hop-free continuous tuning, greater than 10 mW of output power and excellent singlemode purity. According to the US manufacturer, the laser features rugged, reliable performance at ground-breaking prices. The miniaturized external-cavity laser includes all necessary control and drive electronics with a simple, user-friendly interface.
Based on iolon's Telcordia-qualified, widely tunable laser module, the device is said to deliver field-proven telecoms-grade reliability and to provide years of stable performance, even in demanding conditions. Designed for rapid integration, it is suitable for a range of instrumentation, fibre-sensing, and test and measurement applications.
www.iolon.com
ROSA is geared up for 4 Gbit/s Fibre Channel
The PX512 from Albis Optoelectronics of Switzerland is a 4.25 Gbit/s receiver optical subassembly (ROSA) for 850 nm optical communications. Designed as a basic building block for multimode 4 Gbit/s Fibre Channel applications, the high-sensitivity, 5-pin coaxial module comes with two different pin layouts and provides a photocurrent monitor signal.
The low-cost ROSA utilizes a PIN/transimpedance amplifier integrated into a TO-46 package and aligned to a precision plastic LC port, for use with 50/125 and 62.5/125 μmm multimode fibre. It offers a sensitivity of -19 dBm at 4.25 Gbit/s, a power dissipation of 100 mW, plus a voltage output swing of 400 mV and a dynamic range of 20 dB at an operating voltage of 3.3 V.
www.albisopto.com
System-on-a-chip cuts cost and power usage
Parama Networks introduced an ADM-on-a-chip that features the highest level of integration to date, according to the US semiconductor company. The ADM-on-a-chip offers all the necessary functions to build an add-drop multiplexer, cross-connects, line and tributary framers, and overhead processors, on a single piece of silicon. Parama says this allows equipment vendors to upgrade existing gear and build new systems that cost one-third of the price and consume one-fifth the power of currently available systems.
Model PNI8040 features eight software-programmable OC-3 to OC-48 SDH/SONET ports, two OC-192 ports and 40 Gbit/s of digital cross-connect capacity. The PNI8160 integrates eight software-programmable OC-3 to OC-192 ports, two OC-768 ports and 160 Gbit/s of digital cross-connect capacity.
www.paramanetworks.com
Switches keep an eye on photonic networks
Lynx Photonic Networks, US, introduced two advanced systems for safeguarding the security of critical optical communications facilities. The LL-3724 monitors optical networks on a 24/7 basis to protect content-sensitive networks against intruders. If an attempted intrusion is detected, the system automatically sends an alarm and can close the compromised path or switch all traffic to an alternative route. The system continues to monitor the intruded fibre and can revert to the original link once network integrity is restored.
The other addition to Lynx's LightLEADER 3000 photonic switch family is the LL-3721 security-access photonic switch. This enables dynamic nonintrusive tapping and monitoring of all required fibres, providing access from N monitoring points in the network to centralized monitoring equipment.
www.LynxPN.com
Laser can tune across all the telecoms bands
NetTest's ECL-400 tunable laser source provides full coverage of the O-, E-, S-, C-, L- and U-bands in a single compact unit. The laser delivers a peak power of 10 dBm, with a guaranteed 0 dBm output across its entire tuning range (1260 to 1650 nm) and high wavelength stability.
The full-band laser comprises four high-performance external-cavity laser modules, based on the Danish test-and-measurement specialist's Tunics technology, plus an optical switch with automatic power control.
www.nettest.com
Processor incorporates key line card functions
EZchip Technologies of Israel introduced the first members of its NP-2 family of network processors: NP-2s, a 10 Gigabit Ethernet/SDH/SONET device, and NP-2e, for 10 Gigabit Ethernet only. Both devices integrate a 10 Gbit/s duplex network processor, classification engines, two traffic managers, ten 1 Gbit/s media access controllers (MACs) and one 10 Gbit/s MAC in a single chip. The NP-2s also features two SPI4.2 interfaces with up to 192 channels. EZchip says that both processors provide the lowest system cost and power for high-density metro Ethernet and Ethernet-over-SDH/SONET applications.
www.ezchip.com
Edge platform boosts IP networks' reliability
The Multiservice Provider Edge (MPE) 9000 series is a new breed of networking device that addresses the critical shortcomings of today's edge routers - network reliability, service scalability and traffic prioritization. That's the claim of Canadian manufacturer Nortel Networks.
The MPE 9000 is designed to be the industry's most reliable network edge platform. Its innovative architecture brings voice-grade reliability to the IP world, allowing service providers to converge their voice, data, wireless and multimedia services onto a single network using multiprotocol label switching.
www.nortelnetworks.com
Interferometer made for production usage
French metrology specialist DATA-PIXEL unveiled the DAISI (Digital Automated Interferometer for Surface Inspection) interferometer. DAISI is said to be the only interferometer specifically designed for measuring ferrule end-face symmetry in production environments, and boasts a mechanical design with no external moving parts.
The interferometer measures PC and APC ferrules, connectors and bare fibres with easy, one-button operation. DAISI also offers fast autofocus capability, automatic apex calibration, and fast and automated measurement of the radius, apex offset and fibre height. In addition, no change of ferrule holder is needed when switching from PC to APC.
www.data-pixel.com
Modules designed for secure SAN extension
Cisco Systems, US, added two products to its MDS 9000 family of multilayer intelligent directors and fabric switches. Optimized for transporting storage-area network traffic outside of the data centre, the Cisco MDS 9216i fabric switch and the Cisco MDS 9000 multiprotocol services module are suitable for business continuity, disaster recovery and remote back-up applications.
Both devices are equipped with 14 Fibre Channel ports (2 Gbit/s) and two Gigabit Ethernet ports, which can be configured for either Fibre Channel-over-IP or Internet Small Computer Systems Interface. The new products also support SAN-OS 2.0, the latest operating system for Cisco's MDS 9000 family.
www.cisco.com
Performance tester is a cost-effective option
The MP1590B from Anritsu is a modular test and measurement platform designed to replace multiple test instruments. The "One Box" network performance tester is targeted at service providers installing and maintaining optical networks, as well as manufacturers designing optical devices and network elements. The MP1590B can test PDH, SDH, optical transport network, jitter (up to 10 Gbit/s), Ethernet-over-SDH, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet in a single unit.
www.eu.anritsu.com
MEMS cross-connects lined up for ROADMs
Chromux Technologies, US, introduced a line of MEMS-based optical cross-connect switches. Available in 8 x 8 and 16 x 16 configurations, the non-blocking switches are ideal in reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers and other agile optical networking applications. They are housed in a hermetically sealed package and mounted on a 3.5 x 1.2 x 0.85 inch circuit board to facilitate integration. Suitable for both C- and L-band applications, they also feature low power consumption and an insertion loss of 1.0 dB. The repeatability is ±0.1 dB and both configurations support power of up to 24 dBm per channel.
www.chromux.com
High-temperature TOSA cuts power requirement
Northlight Optronics of Sweden released a high-operating-temperature 10 Gbit/s transmitter optical subassembly (TOSA) for 40 and 80 km applications. By running the transmitter chip at a higher temperature, says Northlight, it can reduce the power requirements of the internal thermoelectric cooler, enabling high performance with low power consumption.
The TOSA incorporates an evolution of the company's distributed-feedback electroabsorption-modulator chip, optimized for operation at 40 °C, plus a high-efficiency microcooler. Designed for 10 Gbit/s SDH/SONET long-reach systems and 10 Gigabit Ethernet applications, the TOSA is available with an LC (type PGT20420) and SC (PGT20421) receptacle, or with a pigtail termination (PGT20422).
www.northlightoptronics.com
XEBPAK transceivers lower transport costs
Optillion of Sweden added two transceivers to its portfolio of 10 Gigabit Ethernet XENPAK modules: the 10GBASE-DWDM module, TOP 8080, and the 10G BASE-ZR module, TOP 5080. For high-bandwidth applications, the transceivers enable content distribution between cities up to 80 km apart, offering a lower-cost alternative to high-capacity satellite links and OC-192 transport.
Both devices provide high-speed serial link signalling at a data rate of 10.3 Gbit/s, and the TOP 8080 has 100 GHz spaced wavelengths at 1550 nm on the International Telecommunications Union grid.
www.optillion.com
Channel monitor made for metro installations
US network test specialist Sunrise Telecom unveiled additions to its SunSet MTT modular testing platform: optical channel monitor (OCM) modules for CWDM and DWDM networks. The modules provide key measurements, including wavelength and power, and also offer advanced features such as power- and wavelength-drift detection and editable channel tables. The SunSet MTT platform is a proven field-upgradeable, rugged and compact field set. Combined with Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel modules, the new OCM devices provide a complete metro toolkit for installing access networks.
www.sunrisetelecom.com
• This article originally appeared in FibreSystems Europe in association with LIGHTWAVE Europe December 2004 p19-26.