Anritsu's MU120118A 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10-GbE) module for the MD1230A data-quality analyser mainframe is intended to be an all-around measuring instrument for component design and validation, system development, manufacture, and maintenance of IP network equipment for metro core networking. With the widespread deployment of ADSL and fibre in metro networks, the demand for higher transmission speed is growing. Since its standardisation in June 2002, 10-GbE is easily connectable with the existing SDH/SONET networks.
Anritsu developed the MU120118A to evaluate network equipment with 10-GbE interfaces and the XENPAK module, allowing the MD1230A data-quality analyser to handle interfaces in the 10-Mbit-10-Gbit range, expanding available test capability. The MU120118A, which conforms to the IEEE 802.3ae 10-GbE standard, has two 10-GbE interface ports for signal I/O to enable what the company calls cost-effective evaluation of network equipment performance. Using the XENPAK module, it can also achieve various measurement solutions with minimum equipment investment. XENPAK module performance can also be evaluated using bit-error-rate measurement functionality.
www.eu.anritsu.com
GL Communications' Ultra OC-3 Card can test, analyse, simulate, and monitor optical networks. Like other products in the GL test family, it features an intuitive interface and several advanced features. The card comes fitted with OC-3, STS-1, T3, T1, and E1 interfaces. The board can add and drop T1, E1, T3, or STS-1 signals to and from an OC-3 signal as well as add and drop T1 and E1 signals to and from an STS-1 or T3 signal. Multiple Ultra OC-3 Cards may be used in conjunction with GL's Ultra T1 Cards, Ultra E1 Cards, and Ultra T3 Cards in the same PC to provide a complete OC-3, DS-3, DS-1, E1, and DS-0 testing solution. Associated Windows-NT/2000/XP software affords easy and friendly operation. Ultra OC-3 Card plugs into a standard PC expansion PCI slot to allow network engineers to interconnect OC-3, STS-1, and T3 (DS-3) signals in a variety of scenarios.
www.glcommunications.com
EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering launched its Packet Blazer SAN FTB-8515 Fibre Channel test module for installation and commissioning of emerging SAN-based services in carrier markets. Network service providers are now extending transparent Fiber Channel circuits in access and metro networks to multiple locations across SANs to increase revenues. According to a recent report from Pioneer Consulting, the global SAN equipment market is expected to grow from about USD7.5 billion in 2002 to nearly USD84 billion in 2007. The Packet Blazer SAN module, contained inside EXFO's FTB-400, provides field technicians with accurate bit-error-rate values that reflect the quality of their transmission systems. It can also qualify the delay or latency introduced by the transport network, which is a critical element in deploying SAN-based services.
www.exfo.com
Agilent Technologies' optical spectrum analyser (OSA) is a portable, hot-swappable module to complement the company's modular network tester (MNT). The OSA module allows optical-network technicians to reduce test time and increase efficiency when installing and maintaining DWDM networks. It features a "plug-and-play" configuration that snaps directly into the MNT mainframe. A full range of diagnostic tests for characterization of optical WDM signals, including WDM analysis, data acquisition, and documentation are available.
Says Hamish Butler, general manager of Agilent's Optical Network Test Division, "This MNT module is a critical tool for outside plant technicians tasked with making fibre-optic installations more efficient for service providers. For the first time, the powerful tests needed to densely pack wavelengths onto a fibre will be available in a portable package that's easy to use and field-ready."
Features of the module include full characterisation in the C-, L-, and S-bands. A real time mode also enables quick fault isolation and commissioning of DWDM systems. Technicians will further benefit from the OSA module's post-processing software, a feature that will translate raw test data into functional results for easy field analysis and problem resolution.
www.agilent.com
Aelis Photonics introduced an adaptive optical equalisation technology that will dramatically extend the reach and speed of optical networks. ReachExtender is deployed in adaptive optical equalisers to enable high-bit-rate optical networks by allowing cost sharing across multiple optical channels and phase distortion phenomena. Optical equalisers can reduce intersymbol interference and improve the bit error rate several decibels better than the best electrical equalisers.
"In developing ReachExtender technology, our team applied to optical networking the principles of adaptive equalisation used in wireless communications," explains Aelis chief executive Menachem Tipris. The result is a breakthrough technology for simultaneous mitigation of multiple phase distortion sources—chromatic dispersion, polarization-mode dispersion, and self-phase modulation—in multiple optical links, using a single optical device. It tackles dynamic link impairments that limit optical transmission reach and upgradability and cause unpredictable random system outages. Targeted at telecommunications carriers and OEMs of optical-network equipment, ReachExtender technology will provide adaptive equalization of 10- and 40-Gbit/sec links.
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