17 September 2012

Finisar introduces industry's first 2-Slot ROADM linecard

In booth 500 at the European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC 2012) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands (17-19 September), fiber-optic communications component and subsystem maker Finisar Corp of Sunnyvale, CA, USA is demonstrating what it says is the industry’s first densely packaged 2x1xN two-slot reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) linecard with Flexgrid capabilities.

The ROADM linecard, which will be used primarily for route and select architectures in core or metro telecom networks, features a high port-count Flexgrid Wavelength Selective Switch (WSS) and a high speed parallel scanning Flexgrid Optical Channel Monitor (OCM).

Finisar adds that the ROADM linecard's compact design improves system performance and reduces overall power consumption, while allowing carriers to increase transmission faceplate density. ROADM linecard features include hitless channel expansion and contraction to accommodate changes in traffic patterns, which may be initiated by the carrier, such as switching from a 100 Gb/s data stream to a super-channel data stream.

"We are pleased to see that Finisar is continuing to focus on innovating superior telecom products based on Flexgrid technology, which will enable carrier networks to meet next-generation performance requirements in the years to come," said Glenn Wellbrock, director of Optical Transport, Network Architecture, and Design at Verizon.

Finisar's Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LcoS) based Flexgrid technology provides dynamic control of slot center frequency at 6.25 GHz resolution and slot width at 12.5 GHz resolution within a WSS, the key element in a ROADM. Once deployed, channel plans are configurable 'on-the-fly', meaning that channel bandwidths can be tuned to most efficiently carry future demand when it arises, says the firm. Using Finisar's Flexgrid Multiport OCM, the user is able to determine channel power based on a flexibly designed channel spectrum, without being constrained by a fixed spectrum.

"This demonstration is a testament to our Linecard Design Team's ability to package next-generation ROADM technologies into condensed configurations," said Massimo Di Blasio, Product Line director at Finisar. "Our designs enable OEM customers to offer more compact linecards requiring fewer chassis slots than traditional approaches. This results in more open slots for revenue-generating transceiver and transponder cards."

Tags: Finisar ROADM linecard

Visit: www.finisar.com