Cheaper and better tunable filters needed to optimize performance monitoring in optical networks, says Solus CEO

July 12, 2001
July 13, 2001--NFOEC--With optical networks moving toward higher and higher data rates and denser channel spacing, the probability of optical signals being lost or degraded grows greater, and a financial crisis for the service provider looms larger.

With optical networks moving toward higher and higher data rates and denser channel spacing, the probability of optical signals being lost or degraded grows greater, and a financial crisis for the service provider looms larger. So says Terry Bailey, president and CEO of Solus Micro Technologies, a provider of tunable optical components for makers of DWDM (dense wavelength division multiplexing) equipment.

"Realistically, a service provider can lose as much as $10,000 for each minute of downtime per channel," he declared. "And with possibly hundreds of channels in a single fiber, this can be economically catastrophic."

Accordingly, he said, the ability to measure the health of all channels on a fiber is becoming more and more critical in maximizing efficiency and minimizing downtime. The drawback, however, is that optical performance monitors (OPMs) simply cost too much for sufficient deployment.

One reason, he said, is the high price of the OPM's most vital component, the tunable filter (or interferometer), which selects the desired channel for quality measurements such as power, signal-to-noise ratio, and actual wavelength.

"Ideally, an OPM should be embedded in the optical amplifier at each regeneration point," he said. "But the existing technologies for tunable filters are not cost-efficient enough to make OPMs affordable in the quantities needed for today's � and certainly tomorrow's � network applications."

In the last couple of years, MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) technology -- which allows electronic systems to sense and control light, motion, sound, heat and other physical forces � has been used to improve the performance and cost-efficiency of optical networks, most successfully in optical switches and optical cross-connects.

Unfortunately, said Bailey, MEMS technology used in tunable filters has been much less successful. "That's because traditional MEMS technology uses silicon-based materials, with extremely stiff material properties that severely limit their design space for devices," he explained.

To counter these limitations and help bring down the price of products that will incorporate tunable filter elements, Bailey's company has pioneered a variation of this technology that he calls "Compliant MEMS" (CMEMS). With this new class of MEMS technology, components are fabricated using highly compliant elastomeric materials.

The added flexibility widens the design space for devices far beyond what is possible with silicon-based materials and enables development of components and assemblies that demonstrate superior performance at significantly lower costs.

"Compliant MEMS is a very robust technology and elegantly simple in its design, making it more reliable and less expensive than traditional MEMS technology," Bailey asserted.

To illustrate, he noted that CMEMS technology demands less precisely defined geometries, which translates into lower costs and higher yields. Simpler processing also reduces costs.

According to Bailey, Solus is currently using its new CMEMS technology to develop tunable filters for the optical networking market.

About Solus Micro Technologies:

Solus Micro Technologies provides high-performance tunable optical components that will enable new levels of performance and usability in a variety of optical networking products. For more information, visit www.solustech.com.

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