Oclaro offers Raman and hybrid Raman/Erbium-doped amplification modules

Capping off a busy week at the European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC) in London, Oclaro, Inc. (NASDAQ: OCLR) rolled out new Raman and hybrid Raman/EDFA amplification platforms. Both target the requirements of coherent-enabled optical transmission at data rates of 100 Gbps and above.

Oclaro says the new amplifiers come with advanced intelligent embedded span diagnostics and channel monitoring features that will save operators opex via deployment efficiencies and autonomous plug-and-play operation. For example, the monitoring and span diagnostics offer safe startup by confirming an unbroken fiber path. They also enable the system to evaluate the fiber path both within the central office and in the span for excessive loss and reflections. The resulting information can also be used to optimize pump powers as well as signal launch powers for maximizing the transmission performance. The platform also supports the integration of multi-port optical channel monitoring.

“Optical networks are rapidly evolving to address future infrastructure needs while carriers are also minimizing the cost of delivering services. The cost of deploying and operating the network is a critical piece of that equation – especially as more and more complex technologies are employed to meet the growing bandwidth demand,” said Ron Kline, principal analyst, network infrastructure, Ovum.
“Equipment needs to be more automated and reactive to the particulars of the network to simplify deployment and maintenance. Optical amplifiers with embedded span-diagnostic and channel monitoring capabilities will be very useful for carriers’ to safely and cost-effectively derive best system performance.”

The modules’ integration and controller consolidation using Oclaro’s OASIS platform result in a compact, low power, and cost-effective design that supports rapid customization, the company asserts. Oclaro is marketing these amplifiers as customized linecards, managed subsystems, or super-modules and says that customized versions have already begun shipping.

“These intelligent plug-and-play amplification products highlight Oclaro’s ongoing leadership in amplification and our ability to innovate and provide customers with differentiated products to lower total ownership costs whilst also meeting next-generation systems’ exacting performance requirements,” said Richard Smart, general manager of Oclaro’s Amplification Business Unit. “I am particularly pleased with the fact that these solutions not only address the capital cost of high-capacity networks but also offer features which will help network operators reduce cost of deployment and maintenance.”

Oclaro recently sold II-VI Inc. an option to buy its amplifier business for $5 million (see “Oclaro sells GaAs laser diode business to II-VI”). If II-VI exercises this option, the new products, as well as the rest of Oclaro’s amplifier product line, would become II-VI’s property.

For more information on optical amplifiers an suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.