Tektronix, Inc. (NYSE: TEK), a provider of test equipment for design and manufacturing of photonic network equipment, announced a new optical network analyzer that will hasten development of Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) transmission equipment designed for existing and emerging ultra-high-speed optical standards, including OC-192 and OC-768.
DWDM is used to increase capacity of telecommunication networks, a need driven by the growth of the Internet. In a November 2000 report, industry analysts at Ryan Hankin Kent forecast an annualized market growth rate of 48 percent for DWDM optical components, making it a market valued at almost $24 billion by 2004.
Boasting greater resolution and accuracy than existing solutions, the new Q7760 Optical Network Analyzer allows designers of next-generation DWDM components to measure and characterize polarization mode dispersion (PMD) and chromatic dispersion simultaneously. Equally important, it accomplishes the task with unprecedented speed, resulting in a reduction in test time and cost-savings for manufacturing DWDM products.
With the advent of new high-capacity standards for optical network equipment, particularly OC-192 and OC-768, a host of new measurement challenges steps forward. The higher data rates cause certain physical phenomena that have little effect at lower rates, but now cause significant degradation of the transmission signal quality. Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) and chromatic dispersion can no longer be ignored, as data rates climb to 10 gigabits/second (Gb/s) and soon, 40 Gb/s. Designers need measurement tools that can quantify PMD and other parameters quickly and with high repeatability.
Fiber and DWDM equipment manufacturers developing new DWDM products including arrayed waveguide gratings, Fiber Bragg gratings, dispersion compensators and multiplexers will benefit from the instrument's high resolution and accuracy, and its ability to measure transmission and reflection characteristics in the optical frequency domain. The Q7760 will help fine-tune optical component designs to minimize dispersion, which reduces signal degradation over distance. At the network level, these "fine-tuned" components permit greater distance between repeaters, reducing infrastructure cost and complexity.
The Q7760 Optical Network analyzer was developed by Advantest, Japan, and is marketed and supported in North America by Tektronix under an alliance formed in 1993. It is part of a full line of photonics products offered by Tektronix.
About Tektronix:
Tektronix, Inc. is a test, measurement and monitoring company providing measurement solutions to telecommunications, computer and semiconductor industries worldwide. For more information, visit www.tektronix.com.