M2 Optics unveils customizable optical switching device

Jan. 13, 2014
Test and measurement specialist M2 Optics, Inc. has announced the immediate availability of SWITCHLIGHT, which it describes as a multi-functional optical networking device designed for service provider, data center, enterprise, and government applications.

Test and measurement specialist M2 Optics, Inc. has announced the immediate availability of SWITCHLIGHT, which it describes as a multi-functional optical networking device designed for service provider, data center, enterprise, and government applications.

Based on a patent-pending design, SWITCHLIGHT integrates both active and passive optical components in a 1U or 2U form factor, to perform the following “S.M.A.R.T.” functions:

  • Switching (all-optical, latching, asymmetric switching)
  • Monitoring (passively capture and route traffic to analysis devices)
  • Amplifying (boost signals for monitoring and multicasting applications)
  • Replicating (multicast and broadcast)
  • Tapping (utilize “intelligent” passive optical tapping).

The vendor says SWITCHLIGHT can be customized to include one or all of these functions in a single 1 or 2U form factor box. As these needs change over time, the SWITCHLIGHT platform can be expanded to increase density or add functionality, the company adds.

SWITCHLIGHT can address a wide array of applications, from ultra-low latency networking to low-cost monitoring of optical access networks, the vendor claims. With support for multimode fiber, latching switches, port replication, and optical multicasting, SWITCHLIGHT provides tightly integrated functionality that other Layer 1 optical devices lack, M2 Optics asserts.

Included with SWITCHLIGHT is LIGHTCLICK, the element manager software included with every system. Based on HTML 5, LIGHTCLICK provides rapid system reporting, point-and-click provisioning, and enhanced administrative control. Additionally, LIGHTCLICK comes standard with multiple APIs to seamlessly integrate into existing and future environments.

“While customization scares many companies due to the increased cost and complexity, we made SWITCHLIGHT flexible enough to embrace customization while remaining cost-effective,” said O.J. Johnston, general manager of M2 Optics’ switching systems division. “The combination of SWITCHLIGHT and LIGHTCLICK enables us to address everything from 100+ Gbps test environments requiring simple scripting languages to next-generation networks built on SDN architectures.”

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