JANUARY 27, 2009 -- Transmode has announced the availability of a fully integrated 4-degree ROADM for its Transmode TM-Series to further enhance optical network flexibility and manageability.
The new 4-degree ROADM is designed to enable operators to easily add flexibility to new or existing networks. The Transmode ROADM allows operators to create new optical channels that use different wavelengths along existing routes, reusing previously stranded bandwidth.
Transmode's first customer for the ROADM is currently deploying its new units and expects to be carrying live traffic from mid February.
According to research firm Infonetics, the global Metro ROADM market will exceed $1.5 billion in 2008 and will reach $2.6 billion in 2011 with a CAGR of 28%. Transmode says the new ROADM enables the company to fully address this market, particularly in North America and Asia where ROADM deployments represent a larger percentage of the overall market than in Europe.
"Flexible ROADM networks represent the fastest growing segment of the metro optical market. We forecast that ROADM-enabled gear will reach 50% of global metro WDM sales in 2011," stated Michael Howard, principal analyst at Infonetics Research. "Companies such as Transmode who have integrated multi-degree ROADM functionality into existing WDM platforms make it simple for operators to flexibly design and provision metro networks or retrospectively add ROADMs to existing networks. The integration of ROADM technology is a simple feature choice, just like other recent metro WDM innovations such as integrated Layer 2 Ethernet capabilities".
The new ROADM nodes can support up to four degrees and local add/drop traffic, which Transmode says makes the capability ideal for meshed networks or ring interconnection sites by the simple addition of the plug-in units. Containing an integrated variable optical attenuator (VOA) for additional per-channel control, the new ROADM unit is intended to provide a very compact option for next-generation network flexibility.
"Metro and regional networks must evolve to support the rapid bandwidth growth generated by mobile data, triple-play services, and business Ethernet services. Network flexibility will become an increasingly powerful tool to enable operators to address this growth and differentiate themselves in an evermore competitive market," said Sten Nordell, Transmode's recently announced CTO. "The creation of a dynamic network with all the necessary management tools is a significant step and allows Transmode to fully address the rapidly growing ROADM segment within the metro optical market. The ROADM is simple to add to TM-Series networks and is already proving popular with customers with the first network deployment currently underway".
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