Frank- Do you think your Lightchip reference is the one and the same as this company announcement out of MSO equipment provider, Antec(sym:ANTC). If so, do you have any idea of the impact of this actual product annoucement? Thanks. -MikeM(From Florida)
PS I now see that there has been an ongoing discussion about Lightchip. For some reason SI dropped this new thread off my bookmarks. I'll re-bookmark and catch up now.
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ANTEC Introduces Revolutionary LIGHTPLEX Optical Wave Router For Metro and CATV DWDM Networks
DULUTH, Ga., Jun 5, 2000- ANTEC, a leader in the hybrid fiber/coaxial (HFC) broadband transport industry, today introduced a revolutionary, high-performance optical device called LIGHTPLEX(TM). LIGHTPLEX is the first product resulting from a broad development partnership between ANTEC and Lightchip, Inc., an optical networking company based in Salem, New Hampshire that develops low-cost, high-optical-efficiency wavelength routing and monitoring systems.
ANTEC's LIGHTPLEX system consists of passive DWDM (Dense Wave Division Multiplexing) devices and an OPM (Optical Performance Manager). The DWDM provides flexible wavelength routing, ultra-low insertion loss, and single- fiber BI-directionality in a small footprint. It multiplexes and de- multiplexes up to 40 discrete wavelengths in the 1550 nm domain and has less insertion loss than a traditional 16-channel device while providing 40-channel capability, reducing the need for optical amplifiers.
The OPM provides monitoring for optical power, direction and loss of light. It has an auto-discovery feature for individual units/channels and can communicate with ANTEC's Track Link(TM) software, uniquely allowing operators to monitor DWDM activity. Using Track Link, the operator can set individual alarm thresholds for both minor and major limits.
The LIGHTPLEX system also delivers built-in upgradeability, allowing operators to cost-effectively add channels in either direction over a single fiber, as needed.
"The new wavelength router is a technological breakthrough, most notably in that it has a large channel capacity, a low fixed insertion loss which is not a function of optical channel count, and a non-intrusive network management capability," said Harj Ghuman, Senior Director, Product Management, for ANTEC.
LIGHTPLEX is available with 100 and 200 GHz channel spacing and comes in an efficient 2 RU (rack unit) package that allows operators to add channels as needed, without system redesign.
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