BTI Photonic Systems Inc. announced today the availability of its 10gbps wavelength conversion module for the Netstender platform, an optical edge system consolidating DWDM/CWDM, optical multiplexing, amplification, dispersion compensation and wavelength translation within a single network element for metropolitan and regional applications
“It’s a 10gig wavelength regeneration capability that supports SONET and SDH – so OC192 and STM16 – and 10gig Ethernet,” said Glenn Thurston, vice president of marketing for BTI Photonic Systems, explaining the new addition. “What this means is on a 2U platform, we are able to deliver very cost-effective, low form factor 10gig regeneration and service demarcation for carrier handoff.”
Using pluggable optics on line ports, the new 10gbps module can translate any optical interface (850nm, 1310nm, DWDM) to any wavelength.
One key application for the module is regenerating 10gigE and OC192/STM64 signals on thin routes – those with eight channels or fewer.
“A very common application we see with carriers is building an 8-channel solution from New York to Boston, lighting two initially and growing into the other wavelengths as time goes on,” said Thurston. ”For 10gig, there is not a lot of technology for doing that sort of channel spacing – in terms of that density and price point.”
Instead, to regenerate the 10gbps signal, carriers often use an MSPP with no line cards in the middle of the route, he said.
“It’s very expensive – on the order of $150,000 to $200,000,” Thurston said, noting BTI’s 10gbps module, in contrast, costs $10,000 to $15,000. “If you are a CLEC laying that route and you need a couple of channels, here is a cost-effective way of delivering that link.”
Other customers, such as wholesalers, can use the module to take a 10gig service into a colocation facility as a demarcation device for carrier-to-carrier handoff.
“If you want to deliver a 10gig pipe to a colo, you have to buy a 32-channel WDM system or an MSPP and put it in there,” he said. “I can do the same thing in a 2U platform.”
BTI Photonic Systems www.btiphotonics.com
