March 1, 2004 Allentown, PA--Test equipment supplier Circadiant Systems today introduced the A3308 optical standards tester (OST) with multiple rates, advanced test features, OTN protocol support and new algorithms that reduce test times by up to a factor of 10 with assured repeatability and accuracy. The company also announced the A3308-M OST for use in production environments. It has limited menus and options to simplify its operation and reduce its cost.
The OST automates common optical communication tests such as stressed receiver conformance, receiver sensitivity, path penalty, and bit error rate versus optical signal to noise ratio in a benchtop instrument that otherwise requires a full rack of test equipment. The multi-rate capabilities of the A3308 allow a wide variety of optical components and systems to be tested with just one instrument.
"The trend to use degraded optical signals to verify that devices will work in the real world is accelerating," said John French, chief executive of Circadiant Systems. "Now our signal degradation expertise, and our test automation capabilities, can be applied to the 1 Gigabit Ethernet, the 2.5-Gbit/sec SONET/SDH, the 10-Gbit/sec FibreChannel and the OTN markets, in addition to the 10-Gbit/sec SONET/SDH and 10-Gbit/sec Ethernet markets we have been serving."
The A3308 includes features and algorithms that improve product quality and reduce test costs and test time. The Secured-Accuracy feature, an automatic calibration monitoring system, delivers unprecedented test repeatability and accuracy. Advanced test algorithms and powerful external instrument controls speed component and system tests and consequently reduce new product introduction times.
"Manufacturers need test equipment they can rely on without worrying about calibration and measurement drift," said Joey Thompson, chief technology officer of Circadiant Systems. "The OST is a self-contained measurement system, and it checks itself to determine if it's still in calibration. This means factories and labs around the world will all measure the same thing, something that until now in the optical communication field has always been a problem."
Lead time for the A3308 and the A3308-M is 8 - 12 weeks. Pricing varies with the selection of available options.
OSTs are an important new class of test instrumentation. These test instruments reduce manufacturing test cycle times and shorten a new product's time-to-market. OSTs consolidate the relevant layer 1, 2 and 3 functionality of components. This enables complex testing and evaluation procedures to be calibrated and automated by Circadiant, instead of the user, and produces a test instrument that is fast, accurate and purpose-built for optical communication system testing. Individual and group test results are displayed on appropriate scales with statistical confidence levels clearly shown to help users understand the behavior of a device under test. An OST also allows the user to degrade test signals to simulate worst-case operating conditions. Degradation includes control over jitter, OSNR, interfering source, extinction ratio and optical power as well as the ability to inject errors into the layer 2 and 3 protocol signals.