Finisar Corp. (NASDAQ: FNSR) has unveiled a 1x20 wavelength-selective switch (WSS) which leverages the company’s Flexgrid technology to provide “gridless” flexibility. The company sees the new 1x20 WSS with Flexgrid as an enabler of high-port-count, colorless, directionless, and contentionless (CDC) ROADMs.
The 1x20 WSS increases nodal capacity while offering high performance across express ports, Finsar says. The WSS therefore minimizes end-to-end system penalties and maximizes the number of ports available for CDC add/drop modules. The company’s filter bandwidth technology is designed to enable current and future high-speed signals to travel longer distances and through more ROADM nodes, Finsar adds.
Meanwhile, the Flexgrid technology offers adjustable channel spacing from 50 to 200 GHz in increments of 12.5 GHz. This will enable carriers to use their existing architectures to carry “all future transmission formats” up to 1 Tbps at whatever spectrum bandwidth required, Finisar asserts.
"The introduction of Finisar's 1x20 WSS with Flexgrid results from Finisar's ongoing commitment to provide the solutions our customers need to address the next generation of ROADM and wavelength cross-connects in optical networks," said Eitan Gertel, Finisar’s CEO. "These important enhancements to our WSS product portfolio are fully compatible with Finisar's Flexgrid capabilities introduced earlier this year and will give network designers the tools to provide cost-effective flexible network architectures."
For more information on optical subsystems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyers Guide.