August 23, 2004 Germantown, MD--Test equipment provider Acterna. today announced the T-BERD 8000 and MTS-8000 optical test platform is now fully fiber-to-the-X (FTTx) and CWDM test capable, enabling network operators to commission, troubleshoot, and maintain optical networks. The T-BERD and MTS-8000 platformwas released globally in October 2003 as the MTS-8000.
With the ability to identify passive components such as splitters and multiplexers, the T-BERD and MTS-8000 platform is the first instrument able to fully characterize FTTx as well as CWDM optical networks, according to the company. While current optical time-domain reflectometers (OTDRs) on the market identify only splices or connectors, the T-BERD and MTS-8000 platform is able to pinpoint and display splitters and multiplexers on its interface. This reflects the realities of FTTx or CWDM networks where passive components are major elements.
Offering a range of OTDR modules, the T-BERD and MTS-8000 platform is ideally suited for complete fiber network characterization of networks. Its unprecedented performance, with 1-m dead zone, 4-cm resolution and 128,000 acquisition points enables the user to identify and locate with high accuracy any element of an FTTx/CWDM network: jumper, section, connector, splice, splitter, multiplexer, launch cable or fiber end.
"By adding these new enhancements to the T-BERD and MTS platform," said Enzo di Luigi, general manager for Acterna's Fiber Optics and Systems, "the T-BERD and MTS-8000 can further match exactly what our customers need, without compromising price, performance, size or weight. It is also compatible with over 10,000 optical test modules already deployed with our MTS-5000 series, which reduces procurement costs and accelerates network deployment."
Designed for field use in both outside plant and central office applications, the T-BERD and MTS-8000 is a compact and cost-effective platform for optical network testing. Combining multiple test capabilities with field modularity, the T-BERD and MTS-8000 platform is a rugged, scalable field tester for provisioning and maintaining short-haul, long-haul, FTTx, metro, CWDM and DWDM networks. Advanced modularity enables the T-BERD and MTS-8000 to integrate options for video microscope, VFL, light source, power meter, and optical talk set with application modules for multimode and singlemode OTDR, polarization mode dispersion, spectral attenuation, chromatic dispersion, WDM, and single-port and dual-port optical spectrum analyzer (with channel isolation up to 10.7 Gbits/sec).
The OTDR module for the T-BERD and MTS-8000 provides multimode and singlemode tests based on one-, two-, three-, and four-wavelength options. The OTDR module enables the T-BERD AND MTS-8000 to test for system length, event loss, event reflectance, distance to events, loss rate of the fiber, total link loss, sectional ORL, and total ORL, all with a simple "Pass/Fail" display.
Compatibility with more than 10,000 field-proven units already deployed worldwide by every major telecommunications network operator enables easy
migration to new network transport technologies while continuing to reduce expenses. The T-BERD and MTS-8000 is built for high performance, with start up times of less than 45 seconds, significant speed improvements for data acquisition, and the industry's longest battery life (with up to two lithium ion batteries), according to the company.