July 7, 2004 Cranbury, NJ -- Princeton Lightwave Inc. (PLI), supplier of specialized optical sources, detectors, and detection sub-systems, today announced the addition of switched, multi-port capability within the line of Optical Channel Monitors (OCM) it purchased from OFS in April, 2004.

System designers have commonly shared OCMs between monitored network elements by using a 1xN optical switch that is assembled along with the OCM on a performance monitoring circuit pack. However, this configuration requires the system designer to specify the 1xN switch as a separate component, develop the control software, and often calibrate the additional losses through the switch path. With the multi-port feature built into and calibrated as a part of the OCM, customers can benefit from a higher level of integration and the opportunity for improved overall power measurement accuracy, say company representatives.

"A four-port version of our OCM was developed and qualified last year and has been shipping as an established product to a major system equipment customer," reports Richard Ramsey, product line manager "The OCM design platform has been proven over the years in thousands of delivered products. The addition of high-performance switching between multiple ports further advances the functionality of this product, bringing greater value to our customers."