July 5, 2006 Clearwater, FL -- Digital Lightwave has announced the availability of network information compute (NIC) products equipped with Jitter and Wander test capability on PDH and T-Carrier interfaces. The NIC Plus and NIC EP now support jitter and wander testing at 1.5-, 2-, 34-, 45-, and 139 Mbits/sec in addition to SONET, SDH, and OTN rates. The first instruments with this capability already have been shipped to international customers, reports the company.
The Digital Lightwave NIC jitter test offering combines patented Digital Phase Analysis technology originally pioneered in the company's Optical Test System (OTS) and newly developed digital technology for truly fast and accurate jitter and wander measurement, say company representatives. In contrast with other instruments that use analog methods of jitter measurement, Digital Lightwave's digital technology enables accurate measurement and repeatability with what the company claims is unmatched stability. The NIC test instruments using digital technology can perform jitter and wander measurement and generation in a single range with the same accuracy and resolution throughout the entire range.
"Our new capabilities are exactly what the customer is looking for," contends Jeff Adams, senior sales support engineer at Digital Lightwave. "They will now be able to obtain accurate measurements with the speed, stability, repeatability, and accuracy they need."
NIC products equipped with jitter and wander options are used to verify global communications facilities in compliance with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) O.171/O.172 standards. The NIC can perform intrinsic jitter measurement, jitter tolerance, and jitter transfer tests as well as industry-standard wander analysis.
The instrument also can measure and add wander to analog clock signals for timing recovery analysis and timing stress. This capability is unique to the NIC and needed by all network element manufacturers, contend company representatives.
Jitter and wander testing is vital to detect flaws and inconsistencies in timing systems that would hamper the ability to transport information, especially at high data rates. Jitter can be caused by a number of different sources in the network and the effects are cumulative, leading to a decreased system margin and making the equipment more susceptible to errors. Wander relates to clock stability and is an important consideration in synchronous networks. Applications for jitter and wander testing include equipment design, manufacturing test, field implementation, and maintenance, covering the full customer base of NIC products.
Digital Lightwave's portable NICs are software-based, modular products that combine a multitude of test functions in a single, integrated solution, including OTN, SONET/SDH, Next-Generation (VCAT, LCAS, GFP), T-carrier/PDH, ATM, Ethernet 10/100/1000M, 1-Gigabit Ethernet and 10-Gigabit Ethernet LAN/WAN, and jitter/wander analysis.