October 6, 2004 Quebec City, Canada--EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering is introducing the FTB-8100 series for the installation, commissioning and maintenance of next-generation SONET/SDH networks.

Next-generation SONET/SDH technologies offer service providers a cost-effective means of introducing high-value, data-aware transport services on existing networks. This opportunity creates an immediate need for test solutions that enable the efficient deployment, operation and maintenance of these value-added services, while providing the flexibility to scale testing functions as networking needs continue to evolve.

Ideally suited for field, central office and lab test applications, the FTB-8100 series combines advanced DSn/PDH, SONET/SDH and next-generation SONET/SDH test functions, including generic framing procedure and virtual concatenation, inside a single platform. The FTB-8100 product family supports test interfaces ranging from DS1/E1 to OC-48/STM-16 with field-expandability to OC-192/STM-64 rates. Each test module includes a native Ethernet interface for inter-working with an FTB-8510 Packet Blazer Ethernet module or external Ethernet device, delivering the industry's first data-integrated, next-generation SONET/SDH test solution for advanced Ethernet-over-SONET service emulation and analysis. In addition, the FTB-8100 series' modular and scalable architecture ensures that additional interfaces and features can be easily introduced in the field without retrofits, thus optimizing capital expenditures.

Modules within the FTB-8100 product family are housed inside EXFO's widely deployed FTB-400 Universal Test System. This high-performance, multi-protocol platform supports a mix of FTB-8100, FTB-8510/8520 Packet Blazer and optical test modules, making it the industry's first portable network test platform combining next-generation SONET/SDH functions with Ethernet, Fibre Channel and optical testing capabilities.