06.16.99
continued from "Optical networking"
aser beams can be gauged according to
their "optical power budget," which is
measured in decibels (dB) and can reach
a maximum of 25dB. However, as signals
move from point A to point B they experience
power loss due to three physical phenomena:
Attenuation, a weakening of the pulse over
distance that is measured in decibels per
kilometer (dB/km); chromatic dispersion; and
nonlinear effects such as noise, which can
become an even bigger problem as the data
capacities of the networks increase. As much
as 50% of a signal's optical power budget
can be lost in the journey. Lasercomm's DMD
works to prevent this loss of quality, by
adding back the lost 12dB, nearly restoring
the light to its original optical power budget.
"They claim that their DMD can put 12dB
back into the budget, which is a huge claim
and it is hands down a big win," says Mark
Thomas, an analyst with Ryan Hankin Kent.
"When we started the company, we wanted
to address these issues and reduce the
quality loss and limit dispersion," says
Danziger, Lasercomm's chief technology
officer, who spent more than ten years in
optics research before cofounding Lasercomm
in January 1998. Generally, a laser sent
through fiber optic begins to broaden and
weaken after about 50 miles. To compensate
for this loss of transmission quality, an optical
amplifier is linked to the network every 50
miles to boost the signal. Such boosting,
however, adds static to the signal, which in
turn requires a regenerator, placed every 250
miles, to clean up the signal.
"Now all they have to do is
show that their products
work in real-world
situations."
Lasercomm has made this process more
efficient by eliminating the need for
regenerators every 250 miles. Shorter
transmission spans require more regenerators,
which are a major contributor to the cost of
a network.
Lasercomm CEO Shoval claims that by using
Lasercomm's DMD device, the minimum
distance that would require a regenerator
can be increased to about 375 miles. In other
words, a 750-mile network would need just
three DMD units--placed at the beginning,
the middle and the end. "Our devices cut the
cost of building a network by almost 40%,"
says Shoval.
If Lasercomm's claims are true, Ryan Hankin
Kent's Thomas thinks the company would be
well positioned to be a leader in the market.
WDM equipment sales are expected to triple
in the next four years as local exchange
carriers (LECs) join long distance companies
in adopting WDM. "Now all they have to do is
show that their products work in real-world
situations. From that point Lasercomm has
long way to go," Thomas adds.
Thomas cautions that this market opportunity
is large enough that giants such as Lucent
Technologies (nyse: LU) will eventually jump
into the arena. Shoval--who previously
started two networking companies, Accord
Video Telecommunications and
Optibase--realizes this and is pushing
Lasercomm's products into beta tests this
summer. Danziger is more confident and
claims: "There is no other product like this on
the market. We are the first, and that should
help us in the long term."
The lack of comparable equipment from larger
rivals has given the 25-person company a
narrow window of opportunity to capitalize on
the market demand. Already, the company
has raised about $10 million in venture capital
funding in two rounds from Israeli backers.
However, Lasercomm has to move at the
speed of light to take advantage of this
break.
In order to do this, the company has hired
Mark Barratt as its vice president of business
development. Barratt, who was formerly
senior director of strategic planning for
Fujitsu Network Communications, is
responsible for getting as many network
owners to start beta testing the DMD devices
as possible. He must then convince them to
pay upwards of $25,000 per device.
The slightest failure here means that
Lasercomm would become a footnote in the
history of the optical networking industry.
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