Coherent Solutions, Teledyne LeCroy pair for new optical modulation analyzer offerings

Test and measurement equipment vendors Coherent Solutions and Teledyne LeCroy say they will use the European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC) in London September 23-25 to unveil a portfolio of optical modulation analyzers (OMAs). The systems will leverage Coherent Solutions’ IQScope technology paired with Teledyne LeCroy’s LabMaster 10 Zi real-time oscilloscopes.

The two companies have worked together for some time, and announced their first joint offering at ECOC in 2012 before Coherent Solutions spun out of Southern Photonics (see “Teledyne LeCroy returns to optical modulation analyzer market thanks to Southern Photonics”). This year the companies will tout the availability of the IQScope-RT Coherent Optical Receiver in standard models operating with 42 GHz and 70 GHz electrical bandwidth, which the companies assert is the highest bandwidth in a coherent optical receiver commercially available. Used in tandem, the IQScope-RT is controlled via the LabMaster’s GUI. Combining the IQScope-RT with the LabMaster 10 ZI scope provides high performance, stability, reliability, and accuracy, the partners assert.

Versions of the IQScope-RT with 42- and 45-GHz electrical bandwidth are currently in production, with the first customer deliveries scheduled for October. The 70-GHz version will be demonstrated at ECOC, with customer deliveries planned to commence in January 2014.

“Since we began our collaboration with Coherent Solutions in 2011, the combined strengths of our respective companies have been a real asset to developing a successful, fully integrated OMA system,” stated Roberto Petrillo, Teledyne LeCroy’s vice president, worldwide sales and marketing. “As soon as you use the product, especially the analysis capabilities of the software, you immediately understand that the OMA system really is the result of a very close and successful collaboration.”

“We are very excited to launch the IQScope-RT,” says Andy Stevens, CEO of Coherent Solutions. “Together with Teledyne LeCroy we have been conducting a number of user feedback sessions and customer demonstrations over the last three months. The feedback has been very positive. In fact the interest has been so strong that we already have an order backlog and a very strong forecast.”

Meanwhile, Coherent Solutions also will introduce the IQScope-ERT. This unit offers the same features of the IQScope-RT when used with a LabMaster 10 Zi, but with an additional four output channels that enable the coherent receiver to be connected to an appropriately configured equivalent-time oscilloscope. The proprietary IQScope technology enables homodyne detection techniques to be used with the high bandwidth and vertical resolution of equivalent time oscilloscopes. In fact, the 70 GHz IQScope-ERT coupled to an equivalent-time oscilloscope with similar or greater bandwidth can accurately analyze a 120-Gbaud modulated optical signal, capturing over 2000 data points for each transition, Coherent Solutions asserts.

An IQScope 10-36Zi OMA System will be demonstrated at the Teledyne LeCroy booth 362 and a 70-GHz version of the IQScope-ERT will be demonstrated in the adjoining Coherent Solutions booth 363.

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