Tektronix Brings on Customers for New OC-192 DWDM Test Equipment
As dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) channel counts scale up in number, carrying OC-192 systems on each channel, engineers face a complex test problem. Testing 32 channels of OC-192 with multiple test instruments is a daunting and expensive. To address this problem, Tektronix offers an instrument that tests four signals at a time with one unit.
After launching the product earlier this year, the test equipment house has gleaned $13 million in orders for its OTS9000 from General Dynamics Advanced Technology Systems, Lucent Technologies, and McGrath-RenTelco. The test platform is designed primarily for equipment manufacturing floors, but the equipment could also turn up in network operators' laboratories to test new equipment for conformance.
Constraints
Equipment manufacturers face constraints in rapid time-to-market, reliable conformance testing, manufacturing costs, and floor space, observes Tektronix business development manager Todd Baker. Given these constraints, Baker says that these customers call for test equipment that performs rapidly at low cost in a compact package. The test equipment must be upgradable to provide a useful life of up to ten years, yet accommodate technology changes that occur every year or two.
The test equipment industry is subject to the same constraints of floor space and power requirements as telecom equipment manufacturers, Baker says. By developing multi-channel capability in it's OC-192 tester, Tektronix hopes to offer engineers an attractive test platform that conserves space and tests more signals at low cost.
Configurations
The OTS9000 supports up to two transmitters and five receivers in a single platform, whereas traditional test platforms accommodate only one transmitter and receiver pair, according to Baker. Typical configurations place all the receivers into multiple platforms to reach the required channel count. On the transmit side, users can either split a single OTS9100 series transmitter, or purchase one transmitter for each channel. The exact number of transmitters and receiver cards purchased depends on both channel count and test methodology. The user can also put up to seven receiver modules into an OTS9000 platform sans transmitter modules.
The OTS 9000 also sports a variable receiver threshold. Tektronix debuted this technology on its 2.5 Gb/s test instrument. The technology allows the user to perform accelerated bit-error-rate (BER) testing by attenuating a signal to the verge of failure and using an algorithm that predicts the failure rate. The technology shortens the time of several hours that would normally be required to reach errors in a high bit-rate environment to minutes, explains Tektronix's business development manager P.J. Klefner.
Tektronix's modular platform sports compact PCI plug-in cards and fits in a 19" telecom rack. The PCI cards and Windows NT interface comprise "a huge jump ahead" in functionality, Baker says. "It's basically a gigabit PC." Test instruments traditionally have small screens and complex, non-PC based operating systems, he adds.
In addition to BER testing, the OTS 9000 performs SONET/SDH overhead conformance testing and network element stress testing.
Another attractive feature of the OTS9000 is that it tests either synchronous optical network (SONET) or synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) equipment. A mouse click switches the instrument between the two standards, which would normally be supported by separate test equipment platforms.
The product is available now, at a base price of $222,000, configured with one transmitter and receiver—nearly half the cost of traditional systems, according to Baker. Additional receivers run between $80,000 and $90,000. A platform loaded with a transmitter and four receivers runs between $450,000 and $500,000.
By: Erik Kreifeldt