Thursday December 2, 4:06 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: SDL, Inc.
SDL Wins Laser Focus World Commercial Technology Achievement Award
New Product Recognized for Enabling Revolutionary Raman Amplification For Fiber Optic Communications
SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- SDL, Inc. (Nasdaq: SDLI - news) today announced that its new Raman pump laser module, the SDL-RL30-1455, was chosen as the winner of the Laser Focus World 2000 Commercial Technology Achievement award in the fiberoptics/optoelectronic components category. This new product was designed for use in advanced fiber optic systems that utilize distributed Raman amplification in conjunction with dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM). The award, to be given during the Photonics West conference in San Jose, California on January 26, 2000, recognizes new products of exceptional commercial significance that were introduced between October 1998 and September 1999.
The RL30-1455 is currently being installed to provide optical amplification in undersea fiber optic systems. The RL30-1455, which is located on-shore, extends the transmission distance in such systems. Supplying equipment for undersea fiber optic systems is one of SDL's fastest growing communications markets.
Eight companies in the terrestrial telecommunications market are also believed to be actively evaluating the new product. Terrestrial systems using distributed Raman amplification are expected to benefit from higher data transmission rates. Specifically, Raman amplification is believed to be a key technology utilized in next generation 40Gb/sec DWDM systems. In addition, Raman amplification offers the potential of increased system data capacity by allowing amplification between 1300 and 1650 nm, thereby supporting a greater number of wavelength channels.
According to Donald R. Scifres, chairman and chief executive officer, ``We are extremely pleased to have won this prestigious honor. The Laser Focus World 2000 Commercial Technology Achievement award shows that the technical community recognizes the ability of our leading edge technology to substantially expand the capabilities of communications networks. This award reinforces our decision to make distributed Raman amplification a focus technology that will help to expand our product line to respond to the expected growing demand for telecommunications and Internet bandwidth.'
Raman amplification differs radically from conventional discrete erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) used in existing DWDM systems today. Distributed Raman amplification utilizes installed optical transmission fiber as the amplification medium rather than erbium doped fiber. Raman amplification occurs in the 1550 nm wavelength band when the transmission fiber is pumped with very high optical power at approximately 1455 nm. Therefore, by using a high-powered pump source such as the 1.5 watt SDL-RL30-1455, the transmission fiber itself will provide amplification. This allows ``distributed' amplification, in other words, amplification throughout the fiber optic network, which leads to substantial increases in the amount of information carried by each fiber.
SDL's products power the transmission of data, voice, video and Internet information over fiber optic networks to meet the needs of telecommunications, dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM), cable television and satellite communications applications. They enable customers to meet the bandwidth needs of increasing Internet, data, video and voice traffic by expanding their fiber optic communications networks much more quickly and efficiently than would be possible using conventional electronic and optical technologies. SDL's optical products also serve a variety of non-communications applications, including materials processing and printing. Additional information about SDL, Inc. is available on the Internet at www.sdli.com .
Statements in this press release which are not historical including statements regarding SDL's or management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations, representations, projections, plans or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include statements regarding companies evaluating product, the growth in the market for undersea fiber optics, expected higher data transmission rates in Raman amplification, Raman being a key technology in next generation DWDM systems, and Raman products helping expand the company and product line. It is important to note that the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in any such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include the market for undersea fiber not developing as quickly as expected, lower than expected data transmission rates from Raman-based products, and Raman products not being critical ingredients in future DWDM systems, and the risk factors listed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including but not limited to, the annual report on Form 10-K and 10-K/A for the year ended January 1, 1999, and the quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, June 30, and September 30, 1999.
For more information on SDL, Inc. at no cost, please call 800-PRO-INFO (U.S.) or 732-544-2850 (Int'l), ticker symbol, SDLI.
SOURCE: SDL, Inc. |
