Configurable Add/Drop Multiplexer
Optisphere's new OADM was built in close partnership with JDS Uniphase Corporation, capitalizing on the company's design strength at the component and module level.
The OADM is a switching element used to manage wavelengths in fiber-optic telecommunication systems. It provides flexibility for increasingly complex fiber-optic networks. Because it is an all-optical multiplexer, it eliminates the need for costly optical-to-electrical-to-optical conversions.
Most OADMs currently deployed in networks are static or fixed. In contrast, the OADM developed by Optisphere and JDS Uniphase can be configured remotely via Optisphere's transport management system. The add/drop capacity of the OADM network element can be upgraded during operation, and the software automatically adopts new hardware settings. The switching element can be used for optical switching with the advantage that the OADM data rates and format are transparent (e.g., SONET, Gigabit Ethernet, IP). Wavelength channels can be coupled and decoupled at the network element using signals with any data rate between 2 Mbit/s and 40 Gbit/s.
The latest version of Optisphere's long-haul DWDM system can transport 160 wavelength channels at 10 Gbit/s; the next version of the system will offer 80 channels at 40 Gbit/s each. Configurability of photonic networks is a function of the network elements of OADMs and optical cross-connects (OXC). Dynamic configurability increases network flexibility, response time and ultimately reduces cost.
Using all-optical filters and switches also reduces cost compared with the expense of conversion to the electrical level and then back to the optical level. Another advantage of optical switching is that it is transparent for data rates and formats. For example, an OADM can switch a DWDM channel at data rates between 2 Mbit/s and 40 Gbit/s.
Optisphere Networks Inc., 1881 Campus Commons Drive, Reston, VA 20191. Tel: 703-262-2503; Fax: 703-262-2008.