VIAVI Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAV) used this month’s OFC 2021 to launch a trio of enhancements to its Optical Network Monitoring Solutions (ONMS) line of remote test and monitoring technology. The new offerings are designed to provide rapid response and automation for managing dense, complex fiber-optic networks in a variety of applications.
The advancements include:
- A patented Flash Fiber Monitoring feature for VIAVI’s ONMSi and SmartOTU software. The feature enables the detection and location of flash attenuation events that cause network route flapping and burst network error conditions. The company asserts the feature is 100X to 300X faster than traditional monitoring, able to detect flash attenuation in one-tenth of a second, and an industry first.
- iOTDR Micro and Nano cards that enable network equipment manufacturers (NEMs) to add optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) capabilities into their systems at a low price, with low power and a small footprint. The cards include a software library with a range of uses cases and can enable fiber characterization, fiber monitoring, tapping security intrusion detection, fault demarcation, Raman amplified link test, and the tracking of fiber degradation. The cards received a 4.0 rating in the 2021 Lightwave Innovation Reviews.
- New fiber network analytics via the NITRO BI Fiber Insight Platform for ONMSi, which automates fiber diagnostics. The capability helps eliminate risks and enables operators to create a prioritized network performance improvement action plan. The analytics capabilities enable all fibers to be graded by the cable, customer, network location, and the root cause fault type.
“With these additions to the ONMS line, VIAVI innovation continues to lead the industry in helping customers scale construction and maintain performance of critical fiber infrastructure to alleviate years of workload on network staff,” said Kevin Oliver, vice president and general manager, Converged Instruments and Virtual Test, VIAVI. "With the ability to proactively monitor fiber using automated, remote test capabilities, service providers, NEMs, and hyperscale operators can reduce expensive downtime and repair dispatch using proactive assessment of the network health, improving the performance, reliability, and customer satisfaction across the fiber lifecycle."
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