Agilent Debuts DWDM Transceivers

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A - News) today announced that it has received initial customer orders and is now shipping the industry's first hot-pluggable dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) transceivers. These devices are used to send multiple channels of data, voice or video over a single fiber optic link. The new DWDM transceivers are part of the Agilent Metrak family of fiber optic transceivers and ICs, and provide flexibility and ease of design and production for metropolitan area networks.

"We're one of the first customers to take delivery of Agilent's hot-pluggable DWDM transceivers, and we can attest to their high performance, quality and ease of use," said Tim Cahall, president and CEO of Manticom Networks. "The combination of the Agilent transceivers with our Scorpion 4104 DWDM transport solution is unrivaled in the marketplace."

The Agilent AFKC-xxxxD and the Agilent AFKC-xxxxE transceivers provide transmit and receive interfaces for DWDM switch and router equipment, multi-service provisioning, and optical transmission platforms. The new transceivers allow network service providers to plug in a DWDM transceiver exactly when and where it's needed, and at any wavelength, reducing inventory costs. The transceivers eliminate system downtime during upgrades and service calls, and the multi-rate operation (from 155 Mb/s to 2.7 Gb/s) allows operators to offer flexible service.

Network equipment manufacturers (NEMs) also benefit from the transceiver's pluggability as it eliminates the need for cumbersome fiber "pigtails" and pin through-hole devices that must be soldered to the board, adding complexity to the assembly of high-volume systems. The Agilent pluggable transceivers also solve the problem of having to set up individual components for optimal performance.

"As the world's volume leader in fiber optic transceivers, we're pleased to bring Agilent's high-volume manufacturing, quality and high value to the DWDM transceiver market," said Tom Fawcett, worldwide marketing manager for Agilent's Fiber Optic Products. "Customers benefit from the ease of configuration, and reduced downtime and inventory costs made possible by our optical transceivers."

Agilent's hot-pluggable DWDM transceivers provide SONET/SDH-compliant links at 2.488 Gb/s and are compatible with other standard data rates such as Gigabit Ethernet. The transceivers are mountable either through the front panel or directly on the host line card. The devices feature integrated control of the laser and avalanche photodiode receiver to reduce NEM design cycles and shorten time to market. Their integrated wavelength locker saves space and equips the platform for future high-density DWDM applications. The Agilent transceivers are based on a standard, multi-sourced package design specification.

The devices are highly integrated, providing control for automatic warm up, transmit power and receiver sensitivity, while delivering diagnostics over the I2C bus. They feature low power operation, with an optical power budget of 33 dB. An LC optical connector is provided along with a 70 way two-row electrical connector. The Agilent devices offer a total of 50 wavelengths across the C band on the 100 GHz ITU grid at link distances of 100 km (AFKC-xxxxD) and 160 km (AFKC-xxxxE). These devices are qualified to Telecordia GR-468-CORE.

Agilent Technologies Inc.