Agilent Technologies Offers New Small Form Factor Pluggable Optical Transceivers for SONET/SDH Networks
Economical, High-Performance Metro Devices Underscore Company's Commitment to Fiber Optic Transceiver Market
Böblingen, Germany, October 23, 2002 -- Agilent Technologies Inc. announced a new series of small form factor pluggable (SFP) fiber optic transceivers for SONET/SDH networks. The new products are part of Agilent's Metrak family of fiber optic transceivers and ICs aimed at providing economical, high-performance solutions for metropolitan area networking, and underscore Agilent's strong commitment to the fiber optic transceiver market.
The new devices include both 155 Mb/s (OC-3) and 622 Mb/s (OC-12) transceivers, both sampling today, with plans for a 2.488 Gb/s (OC-48) SFP device expected during 2003. SFP transceivers offer the traditional size and cost benefits of small form factor devices. They also allow customers the flexibility to plug in additional transceivers as data traffic grows, enabling network managers and service providers to only pay for the bandwidth that is currently needed.
As the fiber optic industry has suffered deep declines over the past two years, many suppliers, both large and small, have exited the market. "This announcement demonstrates that we continue to invest research and development and manufacturing resources to fiber optic transceivers," said Colin Chin, vice president of worldwide Sales and Marketing for Agilent's Semiconductor Products Group. "As the world's No. 1 supplier, we remain fully committed to this important market. We're available to support new customers around the globe with our wide range of solutions."
Product Features
Agilent's new HFCT-5760xx OC-3 transceivers include long-reach and intermediate reach devices. They are available with the convenient bail de-latch mechanism that eases the process of removing the transceivers in space-constrained systems and high-density applications where transceivers are packed closely together on both sides of a circuit board. The HFCT-5750xx-OC-12 transceivers are aimed at intermediate reach applications and also offer the bail de-latch.
The new transceivers offer a multi-rate capability that allows the devices to communicate with slower transceivers. They also have an extended operating temperature range of -10 C to +85 C. As with other Agilent transceivers, the new SONET/SDH devices also offer superior EMI and jitter specifications, giving designers increased flexibility in meeting performance and regulatory requirements.
The HFCT-5760xx and HFCT-5750xx devices are sampling now, with general availability expected by the end of 2002. Agilent expects to begin sampling its OC-48 SFP transceivers by the end of this year, as well. The OC-48 devices are also expected to offer digital diagnostic monitoring capability, a feature that helps service providers and network managers avoid and respond more quickly to network maintenance problems. More information is available at www.agilent.com/view/sff.
About Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies Inc. is a global technology leader in communications, electronics and life sciences. The company's 37,000 employees serve customers in more than 120 countries. Agilent had net revenue of $ 8.4 billion in fiscal year 2001.