EXFO Inc. (NASDAQ: EXFO, TSX: EXF) has introduced the FVA-3800 multiport benchtop optical variable attenuator, which the company claims is the most compact device on the market. EXFO says it is the ideal solution for bit error rate (BER) testing and system verification in labs or manufacturing environments.

“With the steady growth of 10G deployments and the appearance of 100G and soon 400G transmission systems, test instruments must perform a wider variety of requirements than ever before,” said EXFO in a statement. “This is why we designed the FVA-3800 multiport benchtop optical variable attenuator to handle a broad range of applications including system loss emulation, coherent transmission, as well as transceiver design and testing. It offers utmost flexibility and thanks to its high density, fast settling time, and incredible reliability, it will satisfy the most stringent research requirements.”

The FVA-3800 houses up to four attenuators in a single unit and includes an integrated power meter for accurate output power control. The polarization-maintaining option eliminates the need for an external polarization controller for applications like coherent optical transceiver design.

The FVA-3800 is equipped with an easy-to-use front panel control, it can be remotely controlled via USB or Ethernet and it is compatible with EXFO's Test Instrument Manager (TIM) application, which is also compatible with the FLS and IQS-2800 ITLA tunable light sources.

The FVA-3800 is available now. The product will be on display at EXFO’s booth #1323 at OFC 2014.

For more information on test equipment and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.