SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Dowslake Microsystems today announced the POP1020, a SmartDGE(TM), a low cost, simple to operate Dynamic Gain Equalizer (DGE) which allows optical systems vendors to automatically manage and control wavelength power and balance channel output. The SmartDGE integrates Dowslake's POP technology with the latest Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier technology. Using an array of independent low power, low cost amplets and through centralized digital signal processing, the Dowslake SmartDGE offers dynamic gain equalization without having to attenuate strong signals - the approach used by all DGE manufacturers. Current available DGE products are based on attenuators and have at least 5 to 10 times losses to the strongest optical signals. Not only are the current available DGEs expensive to deploy they are also complex and hard to integrate into networking systems. Dowslake SmartDGE takes a completely different approach: Instead of attenuating strong signal, it amplifies weaker ones. The SmartDGE monitors each incoming signal and adjust its amplification accordingly in order to achieve an equal output level without the need for an expensive optical performance monitor. With a speed of 200 micro-second, the Dowslake SmartDGE is also transient resistant. In a separate release:DowsLake Microsystems today announced the POP1010, a SmartOPM(TM) that is low cost, and 20 times faster, than current optical performance monitors, and the POP1030, a SmartVOA(TM) Array that allows optical systems vendors to automatically manage and control wavelength power and balance power bands. Built upon DowsLake Microsystems’ Programmable Optical Processor (POP(TM)) platform and powered by its Simple Subsystem Management Protocol (SSMP(TM)), a management protocol that dramatically simplifies system integration and provides several programmable functions to optical networking, the new products are network-ready, plug-in modules, with optical and electrical interfaces. They integrate the most advanced software and electronic hardware technologies with the latest tunable optical technology to create intelligent optical subsystems that are low cost and easily integratable. All control parameters can be easily modified through a simple GUI interface, and subsystem integration is reduced to weeks instead of months. DowsLake’s SmartOPM integrates advanced signal processing technology with the latest tunable optical technology. Thus, the DowsLake SmartOPM is fast, low-cost, compact and easily integratable. Information reporting is 20 times faster than conventional filter-based devices, thanks to high-speed electronics and sophisticated data acquisition and processing software. DowsLake’s universal POP platform allows optimized electronic and software collaboration—acquiring and processing large amounts of data in parallel. The simple API allows easy integration into optical systems. The software based processing design allows threshold-crossing alarms to be set, to identify problems such as channel-power drop or wavelength shift, and field upgradeability. As optical networks become more dynamic, optical systems must control optical power to transmit signals farther and unimpaired. As wavelength counts grow, transport distances increase, new wavelengths are provisioned, optical layer protection and restoration become the norm and optical add/drop increases in use, power must be controlled to ensure signal integrity. The SmartVOA (Variable Optical Attenuator) integrates DowsLake’s POP technology with the latest variable optical attenuator technology. The DowsLake SmartVOA is fast across multiple VOAs, accurate, and easily integratable. All control parameters can easily be modified through a simple and straightforward GUI interface. With the GUI interface no complex command sets are required. Attenuation can be managed in real time in three operating modes.DowsLake Microsystems