Agility Communications announces integrated electro-absorption modulator laser technology

Agility Communications, Inc., a provider of widely tunable lasers for metro, switching, and long-haul markets, announced successful integration of an Electro-absorption Modulator (EAM) onto its widely tunable, Sampled-Grating Distributed Bragg Reflector (SG-DBR) laser technology. Agility's SG-DBR platform, a commercially viable architecture to integrate many functions on a single chip, supports the 2.5- and 10-gigabit markets across the full C-band, while meeting requirements of reliability and low cost.

Agility Communications, Inc., offers optical networking infrastructure solutions that reduce the costs and complexity of supporting agile networks. Developed for Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexed (DWDM) networks, Agility claims that its first products -- high-power, widely tunable lasers -- provide communications companies with greater bandwidth flexibility than what is currently available with fixed-wavelength or narrowly tunable lasers.

Earlier this year, Agility announced a 10-mW widely tunable laser for long-haul applications. The laser can tune to more than 90 ITU (International Telecommunications Union) channels.

By eliminating the need to add more components in the network and instead integrating multiple functions onto a single chip, total cost, capital and operating expenditures are lower. Because Agility lasers are capable of supporting high-power applications, the need for optical amplifiers in the network is reduced. Agility's "all-monolithic" architecture, based on Indium Phosphide, allows easy integration of the Electro-absorption Modulator with the laser on a single chip. The Widely Tunable EML reduces space requirements and maintenance.

A beta customer base of 30 companies including new startups such as Atoga, Network Photonics, and Mahi are sampling and using Agility's 3040 tunable laser to provide up to 4 mW of optical output power to any C-band wavelength in less than 10 milliseconds. Agility's 3040 laser is designed for DWDM systems where the capability to change wavelength on demand over the entire "C" band window of 1525nm to 1565nm with 50GHz channel spacing is essential.

About Agility Communications, Inc.:

Agility Communications, Inc. is a provider of widely tunable lasers for metro, switching, and long-haul markets. For more information, visit www.agility.com.