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Technology Stocks : Osicom(FIBR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Afaq Sarwar who wrote (9207)	2/9/1999 10:18:00 AM
From: Sir Auric Goldfinger	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 10479

Lap dance for Par?:"(FON) OSICOM AND FORE LAP COMPETITION WITH DWDM SYSTEM 2/8/99 20:6 Competitors in the race to develop metropolitan dense wave division multiplexing solutions had better keeps their eyes on a new a new front-runner. Osicom Technologies [FIBR] of Santa Monica, Calif., a DWDM specialist, and FORE Systems [FORE] of Pittsburgh, an ATM switch manufacturer, have developed a metro DWDM system that is the first to allow ATM to communicate directly with DWDM. So what's the big deal? Other systems require an optical-to- electrical-to-optical conversion between an ATM switch and a dense wave division multiplexer. That means they need an extra laser and receiver in the system. The Osicom/FORE system cuts out the extra equipment and reduces costs. Such a move could allow Osicom and FORE to take the checkered flag for metro DWDM. The new hot rod system will allow carriers, Internet service providers and other customers to use the advanced management features of ATM to control and monitor traffic. ATM allocates bandwidth on demand, making it ideal for carrying voice, data and video. How do Osicom and FORE pull off the direct communication? FORE incorporates narrowband lasers into its ForeRunner ASX-4000 ATM switch. This method allows the ATM switch to transmit directly to a DWDM multiplexer. Normally an ATM switch uses wideband lasers to send signals to a network. "What has been happening in the industry is that router and switch makers send wideband signaling into DWDM devices, and the DWDM device converts it," says Ron Mackey, executive vice president of technology at Osicom. "Now FORE has replaced their wideband lasers with narrowband lasers that work with our DWDM technology. This is significantly less expensive then coming out [of the router or switch] wideband." By incorporating a narrowband laser into its box, FORE eliminates the need to install an extra laser in the network to convert wideband signaling to narrowband signaling. A receiver and transmitter are removed from the network. Neither Osicom nor FORE execs would say how much money is saved by reducing the equipment needed in the network. Is SONET Falling Behind? An alternative way of translating wideband into narrowband signaling is to transmit the ATM signaling to a SONET access multiplexer. The SONET multiplexer then communicates with a DWDM system, which uses narrowband signaling. The Osicom and FORE system eliminates the need for SONET. An ATM signal can be transmitted straight to the optical layer. This Osicom system could generate a savings for carriers that might otherwise buy SONET multiplexers and management software. "I think this solution is indicative of the growing interest in skipping the SONET layer in a carrier's network and having datacom communicate directly with the optical layer," says Barry Flanigan, senior analyst at Ovum Inc., a London consultancy. "I think we will see data networking and optical networking increasingly intertwined. We will see companies getting together to develop these types of technologies. Cisco [CSCO] and Ciena [CIEN] have been working on routers and DWDM systems that interoperate." SONET will not disappear from carrier networks anytime soon. In fact, carriers will continue to rely on the technology since it already is installed on a widespread basis. But, Flanigan says metropolitan and long-haul DWDM will be seen as a serious alternative to SONET in the coming years. One thing is for sure: The metro DWDM market remains in its infancy. Carriers have hardly begun considering DWDM for urban deployments, and still fewer enterprises have set their sites on it. However, Ken Kelly, senior analyst at Dataquest of San Jose, Calif., says there is a market for Osicom's and FORE's DWDM solution. "A lot of companies are going toward ATM in their backbones," he says. "DWDM is a logical connection for in between ATM networks, so I could see sales developing for FORE." The ForeRunner ASX 4000 ATM switch will support up to four OC-48 links on a single fiber. It communicates with the Osicom GigaMux, a dense wavelength division multiplexer that supports up to 32 OC-48 channels over a single fiber. FORE Systems would not disclose the price of the ASX 4000 switch, and Osicom would not reveal the price of a GigaMux." Q: Why is it these guys always fire up the press mill when the stock trade off a little?