Hi Frank, thanks for the detailed response. Always appreciated.
On a different topic, I see Chorum has a press release from a week or so ago that I missed (http://www.chorumtech.com/polar.html )
This seemed like as good a place as any to post it:
Some recent releases:
STARTUP BRINGS OPTICAL SWITCHING CLOSER TO REALITY.
(Chorum Technologies' liquid crystal-based optical switches)
Electronic Engineering Times, Sept 27, 1999 p1
A startup will unveil technology this week that could help create true optical switching. Chorum Technologies Inc. will use the National Fiber Optics Engineers Conference in Chicago to show
liquid-crystal-based optical switches as well as Optical Slicers, an interleave filtering technology for routing based on dense wavelength division multiplexing.
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CHORUM TECHNOLOGIES INTRODUCES OPTICAL PRODUCTS FOR NEW, TERABIT-SCALE ACTIVE OPTICAL NETWORKS
Innovative Light Polarization Processing and Liquid Crystal Technologies Dramatically Increase the Capacity and Reduce the Cost of Optical Networks
RICHARDSON, Texas, September 23, 1999 - Chorum Technologies Inc. today introduced its PolarWave family of advanced optical products for terabit-scale active optical networks. Chorum's patented PolarWave optical switching, routing and processing technologies dramatically increase the performance, reliability and capacity of advanced optical networks.
"We see today's introduction as an important step toward ultra-high capacity, active optical networks, where staggering amounts of bandwidth are managed optically, rather than electronically," said Scott Grout, Chorum president and chief executive officer. "Using our products and technologies, a new generation of optical networks can be built, where hundreds of channels are dynamically routed, switched, and managed optically, without costly and bandwidth-limiting optical-to-electronic-to-optical conversions."
The PolarWave family of products is comprised of five product lines: Optical Slicers™, DWDM Routers, Optical Switches, Optical Processors, and Integrated Optical Systems.
Optical Slicers are a powerful, new product series that performs advanced optical filtering, called interleave filtering. By using Optical Slicers in long-haul DWDM networks, optical system manufacturers can transmit terabits of information on a single fiber. For metro applications, Optical Slicers make it possible to create flexible multi-node all-optical rings. The result is a reduction in optical-to-electrical conversions in the network and the ability to scale capacity in the ring as traffic levels increase.
DWDM Routers are high performance all-optical multiplexers and demultiplexers based on Chorum Technologies' Optical Slicing™ technology. As the race for more bandwidth in the network continues, there is a pressing need for multiplexing technology that functions across a wide operating window with low insertion loss, wide passband performance, and high channel isolation. With Chorum's DWDM Router products, it is now possible to build modular, passive optical multiplexing and demultiplexing systems that support hundreds of channels at data rates of 10 Gb/s and higher.
Chorum's line of Optical Switches is based on innovative liquid crystal technology that offers high performance and high reliability as compared to today's traditional switching technologies. This is particularly important for new networks that incorporate all-optical protection, restoration, and bandwidth management capabilities. Using Chorum's liquid crystal optical switches, system manufacturers will be able to offer carriers more reliable and cost-effective next-generation optical networks.
With new networks supporting dynamic routing and switching of optical channels, signal conditioning becomes critical. Chorum's Optical Processors eliminate the problems associated with network optical power level variations and other system non-linearities. Optical signal conditioning makes it possible to achieve longer transmission distances, reducing optical-to-electrical conversions and lowering network costs.
In addition to each of the individual product lines, the technologies can be combined to form powerful integrated products. System manufacturers are looking to their supply base to provide integrated modules and subsystems to increase performance and reduce cost. Chorum's Integrated Optical Systems couple switching, filtering, and/or processing technologies together for advanced applications, such as optical add/drop multiplexing (OADM) or optical cross-connects (OXC).
Chorum Technologies is working with several of the world's leading optical system manufacturers to incorporate PolarWave products into their next-generation systems. Product samples are available now. Initial products will be commercially available in the fourth quarter of 1999. The product roll-out will continue through the first half of 2000.
Demonstrations of the PolarWave line of products will be performed at Chorum Technologies' booth (#923) at the National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (NFOEC) being held in Chicago, Sept. 26-30.
Chorum Technologies, Inc. is headquartered in Richardson, Texas. Chorum designs, manufactures and markets advanced optical solutions for terabit-scale, active optical networks. The Company's PolarWave™ optical switching, routing and processing technologies are based on a portfolio of thirty-one issued and filed patents. For more information, visit www.chorumtech.com.
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