Lightwave articles from May 2008

Lightwave archives from May 2008

Where should network intelligence reside?(Focus On: APPLICATIONS)
May 1, 2008... Five years ago, the world was a different place. The vision for telecommunications networks was clear: an all-IP network supporting multiple IP-based services delivered directly over fiber. Fast forward to today and it would appear that the...

Does fiber enable 'greener' data centers?(INDUSTRY: Opportunities, market intelligence, and forecasts to improve your bottom line)
May 1, 2008... Last August, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA; www.epa.gov) released a report to Congress on server and data center energy efficiency, touching off a wave of discussion on the subject. The majority of data centers still employ at...

'EtherOptics' optimizes intelligent IP/Ethernet transport.(Focus On: TECHNOLOGY: Advances in research, development, engineering, and standards)
May 1, 2008... Few people disagree that the convergence of Ethernet and optics (EtherOptics) is one of the cornerstones of next-generation broadband networks. This convergence offers fixed-line and mobile network operators a powerful range of benefits,...

IBM.(north america)
May 1, 2008... IBM (www.ibm.com) says its scientists have built the world's smallest nanophotonic switch with a footprint about 100X smaller than the cross-section of a human hair. The switch could be used to transfer information inside a computer chip by...

FPL FiberNet, a subsidiary of FPL Group Inc., has selected and deployed Alcatel-Lucent's (www.alcatel-lucent.com) IP/Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) platforms in its packet-based network to deliver Ethernet and IP services.(north america)
May 1, 2008... FPL FiberNet, a subsidiary of FPL Group Inc., has selected and deployed Alcatel-Lucent's (www.alcatel-lucent.com) IP/Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) platforms in its packet-based network to deliver Ethernet and IP services. FPL FiberNet...

Alaska Communications Systems Group Inc. (www.acsalaska.com) has entered into an agreement to purchase Crest Communications Corp., owner and operator of the North Star submarine fiber-optic cable, one of three existing submarine fibers connecting Alaska to the continental United States.(north america)
May 1, 2008... Alaska Communications Systems Group Inc. (www.acsalaska.com) has entered into an agreement to purchase Crest Communications Corp., owner and operator of the North Star submarine fiber-optic cable, one of three existing submarine fibers...

Ciena Corp. (www.ciena.com) says that Hitachi Data Systems (www.hds.com) will resell the CN 4200 FlexSelect advanced services platform and CN 2000 storage and LAN extension platform.(north america)
May 1, 2008... Ciena Corp. (www.ciena.com) says that Hitachi Data Systems (www.hds.com) will resell the CN 4200 FlexSelect advanced services platform and CN 2000 storage and LAN extension platform. Hitachi will leverage the platforms as part of its network...

Agilent Technologies Inc. (www.agilent.com) says that Finisar (www.finisar.com) has selected its advanced design system software to support the development of optics products designed for the telecom market.(north america)
May 1, 2008... Agilent Technologies Inc. (www.agilent.com) says that Finisar (www.finisar.com) has selected its advanced design system software to support the development of optics products designed for the telecom market. Agilent's ADS software platform...

France Telecom (www.francetelecom.com) and Orange plan to install a submarine fibre-optic cable providing Madagascar with broadband Internet.(emea)
May 1, 2008... France Telecom (www.francetelecom.com) and Orange plan to install a submarine fibre-optic cable providing Madagascar with broadband Internet. Known as Lion, the 1,800-km cable will connect Madagascar with the region's existing Sat3-Wasc-Safe...

RETN has chosen the Infinera (www.infinera.com) Digital Optical Networking system for the modernization and upgrade of its national backbone network and for the construction of a new pan-European transmission ring.(emea)
May 1, 2008... RETN has chosen the Infinera (www.infinera.com) Digital Optical Networking system for the modernization and upgrade of its national backbone network and for the construction of a new pan-European transmission ring. RETN is a wholesale carrier...

France Telecom.(emea)
May 1, 2008... France Telecom says it has signed a frame agreement to supply domestic fiber-optic connections to a French residential properties association whose members represent more than 800,000 homes. Under the proposed deal, France Telecom will install...

Enablence Technologies Inc.(HOT PICK)
May 1, 2008... Enablence Technologies Inc. (www.enablence.com), a Canadian supplier of planar lightwave circuit (PLC)-based components, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Wave7 Optics Inc., a manufacturer of FTTH...

EMCORE Corp.(update)
May 1, 2008... EMCORE Corp. (www.emcore.com) plans to split into two companies, with its fiber-optics business providing the focus for one and its photovoltaic operations serving as the foundation of the other. The decision to divide the company in two comes...

ECI Telecom (www.ecitele.com) has been chosen by French carrier Tutor to deploy an end-to-end next-generation system of products to support the city of Nancy in the roll-out of an advanced fiber-to-the-building network, one of the first in the country.(emea)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... ECI Telecom (www.ecitele.com) has been chosen by French carrier Tutor to deploy an end-to-end next-generation system of products to support the city of Nancy in the roll-out of an advanced fiber-to-the-building network, one of the first in the...

To help carriers meet fiber deployment challenges and reduce both capital and operational expenses, NEC (www.nec.com) has entered into an agreement to resell VPIsystems' OnePlan network planning system, to be branded as SpectralWave ONP.(asia)
May 1, 2008... To help carriers meet fiber deployment challenges and reduce both capital and operational expenses, NEC (www.nec.com) has entered into an agreement to resell VPIsystems' OnePlan network planning system, to be branded as SpectralWave ONP....

AT&T (www.att.com) and NTT Communications Corp. (www.ntt.com) recently signed construction and maintenance agreements to participate in the Trans-Pacific Express Consortium.(asia)
May 1, 2008... AT&T (www.att.com) and NTT Communications Corp. (www.ntt.com) recently signed construction and maintenance agreements to participate in the Trans-Pacific Express Consortium. The two carriers join the six original consortium members: China...

Fujitsu Ltd.(asia)
May 1, 2008... Fujitsu Ltd. (www.fujitsu.com) has successfully completed an upgrade of the Japan--U.S. cable network, a submarine fiber-optic cable system spanning the Pacific Ocean. Fujitsu states its technology now enables the network to carry more than...

Letter to the editor.(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... Dear Editor, Why do you publish articles with so much skewed or misstated information as "What to do When PON's Bandwidth Isn't Enough" by Irit Gillath [Lightwave, January 2008]? The author misstates bandwidth requirements--"HDTV...

When to walk away.(Editorial)
May 1, 2008... Tellabs raised eyebrows in April when it announced that it had decided to surrender its status as a supplier to Verizon's GPON program. While making clear that it intends to continue to service the carrier's BPON requirements, the company...

Erratum.(Editor's note)(Correction notice)
May 1, 2008... In the April article, "Verizon Business trials AFOX technology" (page 21), we neglected to cite the fact that Polatis took part in Verizon's Florida trial of automated fiber-optic crossconnect (AFOX) technology. We regret the error.

Clarification.(Editor's note)(Correction notice)
May 1, 2008... In the same article, we reported that Glenn Wellbrock, director of backbone network design at Verizon, characterized piezoelectric beam steering technology as "higher loss." In response to a reader query, Wellbrock subsequently e-mailed us,...

10G EPON chip development races demand.(TECH TRENDS)
May 1, 2008... The IEEE doesn't expect to ratify the standard for 10-Gbit/ sec Ethernet PON (10GEPON) until late in the fall of 2009. However, as has become customary in the optical communications arena, the technology required to build and test 10GEPONs...

Rugged breakout kits.(INSTALLATION)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Durofan low-smoke-zero-halogen (LSZH) rated breakout kits are made from materials that will not produce toxic or combustible gases if exposed to high heat sources. The cost-effective kits make it easy to separate out the individual fibers from...

Fiber patch panel system.(INSTALLATION)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The FiberExpress Ultra patch panel system is designed to support the IBDN FiberExpress structured cabling system. Suitable for use anywhere interconnections or splicing of optical fiber occur, the patch panel system offers ultrahigh density and...

Customized data center installation products.(INSTALLATION)
May 1, 2008... A collaborative effort has resulted in Corning Cable Systems' new Zero-U system being incorporated into Chatsworth Products Inc.'s TeraFrame family of cabinets for high-density storage area networks (SANs). The Zero-U system includes an MTP...

Sealed enclosure for FTTH applications.(INSTALLATION)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The LG-350-AC sealed dome closure is designed for aerial or underground drop access applications, where a sealed closure is required but space is limited. More than 25% smaller than the LG-350, the new closure is suitable for small hand-hole...

OSP enclosure.(INSTALLATION)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The outdoor enclosure for the FLASHWAVE 4100 extension shelf system spins for full 180[degrees] product access and is designed to enable carriers to quickly and cost-effectively deploy and maintain the equipment. The cabinet has the ability to...

Expansion propagation software.(DESIGN & MANUFACTURING)
May 1, 2008... ModePROP 1.0 is a new Eigenmode expansion propagation package that accounts for both forward and backward propagation and radiation modes. The software is an addition to the RSoft Component Design Suite, an environment where all software tools...

10G EPON reference designs.(DESIGN & MANUFACTURING)
May 1, 2008... Two 10G EPON reference designs, the PAS8001 OLT and PAS9001 ONT, have been created for central office optical line terminals (OLTs) and premises optical network units (ONUs). The chip functions in each design will reside on a pair of FPGAs and...

FPGA for XAUI.(DESIGN & MANUFACTURING)
May 1, 2008... The Virtex-5 offers designers using the XAUI communications protocol a reference design, XAUI protocol characterization report for GTP transceivers, access to Xilinx Logi-CORE IP, and an eight-lane PCIe add-in card with CX4 connector...

Bare fiber polisher.(DESIGN & MANUFACTURING)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The Radian System processes bare optical fibers and allows fibers to be polished at user-selectable angles for R&D applications and production. A real-time video system actively monitors the polishing process from start to finish. The...

Optical product development.(DESIGN & MANUFACTURING)
May 1, 2008... Princeton Optronics is offering its technical services and manufacturing capability for outside customers. In addition, the company has laser and optical subsystems qualifications (Telcordia, Mil-Spec, etc.) capability, which is also being...

Photodiode receivers.(COMPONENTS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The G10342 receivers feature a high-speed response up to 11.3 Gbits/sec, making them suitable for high-speed data transmission applications such as SDH (STM-64 or SONET OC-192), 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE), and storage area networks. The...

LC connector for harsh environments.(COMPONENTS)
May 1, 2008... The Cannon PHD SuperLC connector features a small form factor and maintains the same high optical performance characteristics of a standard LC product while operating in severe environments. The connector is designed for military/ aerospace,...

Network interface devices.(COMPONENTS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... New network interface devices (NIDs) are carrier-grade, Metro Ethernet Forum certified components designed for use in telco, cable, and utility networks to support copper-to-fiber, fiber-to-fiber, and copper-to-copper demarcation with fixed...

10G SFP+ transceiver.(COMPONENTS)
May 1, 2008... The 1,550-nm SFP+ has a typical data rate of 10.3 Gbits/sec with a link budget greater than 15 dB. The transceiver is compliant with IEEE 802.3ae 10GBaseE, SFP+ MSA, SFF 8432 Rev3.2 (mechanical dimension), and digital diagnostic SFF 8472...

SFF tunable transponder.(COMPONENTS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The 10-Gbit/sec small-form-factor, 300-pin tunable transponder offers customers a compact 2.2x3-in. module that provides nearly a 60% reduction in surface area compared to a large-form-factor, 300-pin transponder while maintaining the same...

Continuous-band DCM.(SYSTEMS)(Proximion Fibre Systems AB)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The DCM-CB dispersion compensation module covers the full continuous C-band and enables any channel plan, bit rate, and modulation format, offering low loss and no latency. According to the company, it increases performance and efficiency,...

Service-layer management tool.(SYSTEMS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The Layered Services Management tool addresses the challenges of managing metro and regional networks. Its features were developed to augment the SN 9000 intelligent multiservice switch, a carrier-grade platform that integrates multiple...

GPON analyzer.(TEST EQUIPMENT)
May 1, 2008... The GPON Xpert passively records the communication between the OLT and ONTs and analyzes it according to the GPON standard. The analyzer does not contain a GPON protocol chipset and, therefore, analyzes the data independently without bias or...

Test functionality for transport module.(TEST EQUIPMENT)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... New functionality for the T-BERD/ MTS-8000 transport module combines 4G and 10G Fibre Channel test support with traditional transport test capabilities such as SONET/SDH, Ethernet, and OTN. The functionality is engineered to address the growing...

Modular test platform.(TEST EQUIPMENT)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The IQS-600 modular test platform seamlessly integrates a wide range of optical, transport, and datacom test modules under a common, PC-based software environment. The system offers complete test automation capabilities to facilitate...

Carrier Ethernet switch routers.(SUBSYSTEMS)
May 1, 2008... The 9700 Series of Carrier Ethernet switch routers provides 1,200 GbE ports per rack, or 120 10GbE ports. Initially, the system supports 40 Gbits/sec per slot, with the ability to scale up to 100 Gbits/sec per slot and 1 Tbit/sec per shelf in...

Reconfigurable wavelength blocker.(TEST EQUIPMENT)
May 1, 2008... The wavelength blocker is designed for optical add/drop multiplexer (OADM) applications in next-generation optical communication networks. The internal optical block has no moving parts and the package is based on a hermetic sealing structure...

Bidirectional transmission device.(TEST EQUIPMENT)
May 1, 2008... An optical device for FTTH bidirectional transmission has been developed and marketed under the SXT family. Modules include the GPON ONT diplexer, ITU G.984.2 Class B+ (SXT4472); the BOSA, IEEE802.3ah (SXT6030); and the GPON ONU triplexer, ITU...

Carrier Ethernet service levels rest on demarc units.(Focus on: Applications: Innovative component, subsystem, system, and network design examples and alternatives)
May 1, 2008... The Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) has now standardized a number of services for wide-area Ethernet connectivity collectively known as Carrier Ethernet services. The MEF's goal in defining these services is to promote the ubiquitous adoption of...

Red Sox champion DWDM technology in data center move.(CASE BY CASE)
May 1, 2008... The Boston Red Sox captured their second World Series sweep in the last 4 years thanks to their on-field resources: Major League Baseball's only 20-game winner, Josh Beckett; American League Rookie of the Year, Dustin Pedroia; a stellar...

M&A helps companies reshape, consolidate.(ANALYST CORNER)(mergers and acquisitions)
May 1, 2008... Analysts and other observers (including magazine editors) often remark that consolidation would be a boon to the optical communications industry. But the companies involved in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) don't do so because of altruism, but...