Interactive Week article is out.
zdnet.com
Company Claims Optical
Breakthroughs
By Joe McGarvey
May 27, 1999 2:50 PM ET
Evoking the name of Alexander Graham Bell,
a Toronto-based company claims to have
unlocked a previously dormant approach to
optical technology that will magnify the
data-carrying capacity of fiber-optic cables
more than 400 times the current maximum.
The company, Light Management Group
(LMGR), this week unveiled its acoustical
modulation of light technology, an alternative
to Dense Wave Division Multiplexing
technology, which is currently installed in the
networks of most major carriers. DWDM
technology enables service providers to
multiple the capacity of fiber-optic cables by
placing multiple channels, or wavelengths, on
a single strand of fiber. Separated by
different frequencies, the wavelengths run in
parallel.
Scientists at networking companies such as
Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks
have made steady gains in DWDM
technology over the past years, with Nortel
scheduled to deliver a system that divides a
fishing-line-wide piece of fiber into 160
separate channels. By contrast, LMGR
claims its technology can create more than
65,500 simultaneous channels.
"And that's significantly understating the
capability of the technology," said a
consultant for the company who asked not to
be identified.
The topic of acoustical modulation of light
waves is not well understood or even
recognized by most industry analysts.
According to literature on LMGR's Web site,
Alexander Graham Bell experimented with
the technology a few years after he invented
the telephone. Although Bell actually believed
the "photophone" was a superior mechanism
for transmitting voice waves than electrical
signals, he never perfected the technology,
according to LMGR's Web site.
The almost inconceivable number of
channels claimed by LMGR is made possible
by creating a sort of mesh of light waves, with
each channel analogous to the thousands of
crevices of light and shadows created when
a still body of water is disturbed, explained
the spokesman.
LMGR's technology is actually the result of
the company's primary business pursuit, the
manufacture of equipment for conducting
professional laser shows. In developing its
laser projector technology, engineers within
the company recognized that the same
approach could be adapted to the
telecommunications industry. "After the
projector was ready, a couple of us looked at
it and said, 'This is a glorified digital switch
network,' " the spokesman said.
Barrington L. Simon, the company's chief
executive, said LMGR now is in discussions
with telecommunications companies, which
have shown interest in adapting the
technology for multiplying the capacity of
fiber-optic networks. Simon declined to
disclose the nature of the discussions or any
parties involved.
"We are in advance stages and defer in
talking about it since so much is at stake
here," Simon said.
In addition to raw capacity, the spokesman
said the technology is capable of maintaining
the intensity of light signals for longer
distances than DWDM technology, an
attribute that would reduce the cost of
networks be eliminating the need for
amplification equipment.
Although an analyst familiar with either the
company or its technological claims could not
be reached, Dana Cooperson, of research
firm Ryan Hankin Kent, downplayed the
significance of LMGR's announcement.
"The issue is that the number of channels
really doesn't matter," Cooperson said. "The
company needs credibility, and they need to
offer something more than pure capacity.
Ultimately, we believe it's a combination of
bandwidth, distance and manageability that
will be the key to success."
LMGR is not the first to suggest a alternative
data and voice transmission technology to
DWDM. Late last year, SilkRoad introduced
a DWDM alternative that pumped additional
capacity into a single channel of light.
SilkRoad is expected to demonstrate its
technology at next month's SuperComm
show in Atlanta.
Although the spokesman said the technology
has been in development for about nine
years, LMGR's history is convoluted. The
announcement coincided with the company's
Initial public offering, which took place earlier
this week. LMGR was formed on May 17,
after Triton Acquisition reorganized under the
Light Management Group name and
acquired 100 percent of Laser Show
Systems Ltd., according to the company's
Web site. Laser Show Systems is the
division responsible for the company's
optical technology.
Representatives from Lucent and Nortel
would not comment on the new technology or
whether they were in discussions with LMGR
executives. |
