Aegis Lightwave, provider of optical channel monitoring systems to the fiber-optic communications industry, announced support for flexible bandwidth for next-generation reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) requirements.
ROADM systems are migrating to support a mix of 10G, 40G, and 100G transmission, which have varying bandwidth requirements, reveals a representative. These varying bit rates and modulation formats occupy various channel widths in the optical spectrum. One approach to filling up the transmission bandwidth is to optimize the juxtaposition transmission signals to avoid unused segments of the optical spectrum. Optimum positioning of laser center frequencies together with varying channel widths across the transmission spectrum drives additional requirements for flexibility in the channel monitor and in other modules, such as the wavelength switch. Channel monitors from Aegis Lightwave now support such flexible channel plans and varying bandwidth requirements.
“Support for flexible bandwidth brings another element of optical agility across our product line while maintaining the great performance that our customers have come to expect of us,” explains Mark Lourie, vice president of sales and marketing at Aegis Lightwave. “This effort emphasizes once more our dedication to focus on innovation specifically in the area of channel monitoring in order to meet our customers’ evolving requirements in a timely and cost effective manner.”
Support for flexible bandwidth in Aegis channel monitors is enabled by a redesign in the software architecture to account for the additional flexibility in configuration, spectral processing, and reporting capabilities, according to a representative. The firmware architecture is portable across the entire range of Aegis channel monitor platforms, including the CTM 1250, CTM 1270 and the OCM 2550; as a result, customers benefit from one common interface across the entire Aegis product line.
The company is exhibiting at OFC/NFOEC 2011 in Booth 2447.