JDS Uniphase Corporation (Nasdaq: JDSU and TSE: JDU) announced new module-level solutions including expanded lines of transponders and amplifiers. The company exhibited additional next-generation products at NFOEC in Baltimore, including the demonstration of a 40 Gb/s transceiver. The modules, which include both optics and electronics for plug-and-play functionality, reduce costs and streamline design and manufacturing cycle times for fiber optic telecommunications systems manufacturers.
JDS Uniphase's new components and modules provide solutions in four key areas of network design: network capacity for the increasing volumes of traffic; network reach to transport signals over the longest distance without costly regeneration; network flexibility to allow fast system reconfiguration to meet usage demand; and network reliability to minimize downtime.
Capacity
In the transponder family, JDS Uniphase is introducing a new line of MSA-compatible 2.5 Gb/s modules with control electronics, extended temperature range, and DWDM capability. The modules are designed for a variety of applications, such as core metropolitan area networks, access networks, and fiber backbone infrastructure elements including high port-count switches. For future designs, a 10 Gb/s tunable DWDM transponder is also being previewed.
While most fiber optic transmission currently operates in C-band frequencies, system designers are increasingly targeting the L-band for capacity expansion and for system upgrades. As part of its family of L-band products, JDS Uniphase is introducing three L-band laser families for long- and short-haul applications: DWDM CW lasers with integrated wavelength monitors, WDM CW lasers, and directly modulated DFB lasers.
Also new at NFOEC was a 10 Gb/s APD/PIN Receiver with automatic gain control (AGC). This product provides improved threshold control, resulting in better receiver performance over a wide range of optical input powers.
Reach
JDS Uniphase claims that their new uncooled 980 nm pump laser offers the highest power in the industry (up to 200 mW), eliminates the need for additional components and electronics for temperature control, and uses only a fraction of the operating power required by standard, cooled pump lasers. As a result, this pump laser has fewer parts, costs less, and is more efficient. It is used in the new uncooled MicroAmp, the latest addition to JDS Uniphase's family of optical amplifiers.
Standard amplifiers such as the new uncooled MicroAmp offer an alternative to the customized development process for optical amplifiers, which typically requires 3-9 months and large non-recurring engineering costs. In contrast, equipment manufacturers can obtain these standard "off-the-shelf" amplifiers in 2-8 weeks, depending on the model, allowing them to quickly move forward with design and deployment. JDS Uniphase is expanding its family of standard amplifiers and is previewing at NFOEC three additional models that provide high performance for in-line, booster, and pre-amplification applications.
JDS Uniphase is also introducing products that provide the higher optical power needed by new system designs. Its new 300 mW 14XX Raman pump laser is the most powerful one of its kind currently available. The pump provides sufficient power to extend reach while also offering cost-savings potential when used to replace two lower-power pump lasers. This product extends JDS Uniphase's offering of high power products such as the 360 mW 980 nm pump laser.
Flexibility
Networks are evolving from point-to-point architectures towards flexible and dynamically reconfigurable networks. JDS Uniphase's new VCF Series of 100 GHz tunable filters provides system manufacturers with additional tools to increase network flexibility. Tunable filters have numerous applications, including Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) suppression, in which fixed filters can be replaced by a single module that can be tuned to cover all wavelengths. Tunable filters also offer attractive solutions for selecting specific wavelengths to be dropped to metropolitan rings or for provisioning single wavelengths to end users as they grow. JDS Uniphase's tunable filter is voltage-controlled and offers a small footprint, high performance, reliability, and cost savings compared with conventional fixed wavelength solutions or alternative tunable filter technologies.
Reliability
Optical performance monitoring provides information that is critical for network controllers to dynamically and automatically control systems in order to minimize downtime. JDS Uniphase will preview the Gain Equalizing Monitor (GEM), a high-speed power monitor that is designed to be compact and low-cost for wide deployment throughout the network. Other performance monitoring products include JDS Uniphase's Wavelength Monitoring Unit, which measures optical power, optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR), and wavelength, and the Optical Performance Monitor, which has the highest accuracy for OSNR and also measures optical power and wavelength.
Optical performance testing for components during design and production is critical for suppliers of high quality, reliable products. JDS Uniphase will introduce the Multiple Application Platform (MAP), the next generation platform for its line of fiber optic test and measurement instrumentation. MAP offers a wide range of test and measurement switches and attenuators in a modular and upgradeable architecture suitable for manufacturing and R&D environments.
About JDS Uniphase:
JDS Uniphase is a high-technology company that designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes a comprehensive range of products for the growing fiber optic communications market. For more information, visit www.jdsuniphase.com.