13 September 2011

Finisar launches first 1x20 high-port-count WSS with Flexgrid technology

Fiber-optic communications component and subsystem maker Finisar Corp of Sunnyvale, CA, USA has introduced the latest member of its reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers (ROADM) product portfolio, a 1x20 high-port-count WSS (wavelength selective switch) with Flexgrid technology, to be demonstrated in booth 1118 at the European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC) in Geneva, Switzerland (19–21 September).

The 1x20 WSS with Flexgrid is designed specifically to enable telecom carriers to migrate to higher data rates (400Gb/s and beyond), interconnect more fiber directions at each node, and offer colorless, directionless and contentionless (CDC) ROADM operation.

Finisar says that, in rapidly expanding telecom networks, the 1x20 WSS high-port-count device is designed to enable carriers and service providers to increase the level of meshing within the network through higher nodal capacity while offering superior performance across express (through traffic) ports. This helps to minimize end-to-end system penalties and maximize the number of ports available for CDC add/drop modules. Enhanced filter bandwidth technology integrated into these products is designed to enable current and future high-speed signals to travel longer distances and through more ROADM nodes. The intended benefit is increased network flexibility and lower cost per gigabit per second per mile.

Finisar says that its proprietary Flexgrid technology enhances the WSS by enabling carriers to dynamically change channel spacing to precisely match the required signal bandwidth with minimal wasted optical spectrum. Specifically, current ROADM deployments concentrate on fixed 50GHz channel spacing, which can support data rates up to 100Gb/s. By leveraging adjustable channel spacing from 50GHz to 200GHz in spacing increments of 12.5GHz, Flexgrid is designed to enable carriers to efficiently carry all future transmission formats up to 1Tb/s per wavelength on existing ROADM infrastructure, at whatever bandwidth these signals may require.

“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,” says CEO Eitan Gertel. “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,” he adds. 

Tags: Finisar ROADM WSS

Visit: www.finisar.com/roadm

Visit: www.ecocexhibition.com