DiCon announces what it claims is the world's smallest ROADM

MARCH 21, 2007 -- DiCon Fiberoptics Inc. (search for DiCon Fiberoptics) today introduced an ultra-compact 1-CH micro-electromechanical systems (search for MEMS)-based reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (search for ROADM). Company representatives say the product demonstrates the strength of its fiber-optic MEMS capability and its commitment to delivering cost-effective wavelength management for tomorrow's reconfigurable optical network.

Packaged in the same 25- x 16- x 8.5-mm rectangular housing as DiCon's MEMS switch components, the 1-CH MEMS ROADM has the smallest form factor on the market, claims the company. With insertion loss less than 0.9 dB for the CWDM version, it offers industry-leading performance, note company representatives.

The 1-CH MEMS ROADM is based on DiCon's proprietary thin film coating and MEMS technologies. A MEMS mirror is combined with a customized thin film filter (search for TFF) to form a component that de-multiplexes a fixed wavelength, provides add/drop switching, and then multiplexes that wavelength back with the rest of the channels.

DiCon's device has six ports. All traffic enters and leaves through the "input" and "output" ports. The two reconfigurable "add" and "drop" ports are used for the selected wavelength, while the "express-out" and "express-in" ports allow for the exit and entry of non-selected channels. The express ports also provide the option to add/drop multiple channels at a node by cascading components of different wavelengths.

This product was developed for both commercial and military/defense markets, says the company. For commercial customers where cost is a primary driver, the 1-CH MEMS ROADM has a cost structure similar to that of a MEMS switch component, without the additional cost of separately packaged filters. The modular channel approach allows customers to grow their implementation one wavelength at a time, for true pay-as-you-go scalability, contends the company. The 1-CH MEMS ROADM joins DiCon's family of small channel count ROADMs, offering optional variable optical attenuator (VOA) capabilities for channel counts up to eight.

DiCon will exhibit this key technological achievement in its booth (#2330) at OFC 2007, to be held next week in Anaheim, CA.