Lynx Photonic Switch Passes Test

CALABASAS HILLS, Calif., December 2, 2003 – An 8x8 photonic switch from Lynx Photonic Networks (www.LynxPN.com) has passed one of the most stringent tests in the optical communications industry to validate its endurance after repeated switching operations. Deploying Lynx's patented planar lightwave circuit (PLC) switching and light management technology, the device under test (a Photon.8x8 PCSS™) was subjected to two billion switching operations on eight paths, 1,000 times more switching operations than the two million required by the Telcordia standard GR-1073-CORE.

In the fully documented test, each switching operation in all eight paths was monitored and verified by a dedicated photodiode three milliseconds after switching occurred, in order to verify the switching operation. After every two million switching operations, optical measurements of insertion loss (IL) and extinction ratio (ER) were recorded. Throughout the two billion cycles, there was no recorded change in IL and ER measurements outside of the statistical measurement margin of error variances specified by the manufacturers of the test instruments.

The test results confirm that Lynx's PLC silica-on-silicon technology – materials, processes and designs – is highly durable and withstands an extreme number of switching operations without any physical damage or performance degradation.

"From a reliability standpoint, a switching cycle of two billion operations is three orders of magnitude beyond that required for Telcordia conformance," said Michael Leigh, Lynx president and co-founder. "And it is far superior to the performance of opto-mechanical switches, or other switches that contain moving parts. Only Lynx's PLC switches have proven their extreme performance capability for carrier-class in-service operation."

The ultra-reliable Photon.8x8 PCSS (Photonic Communications Switching Subsystem) has no moving parts and is the heart of several models in Lynx's new plug-and-play LightLEADER™ 3000 Series switch systems, including the LightLEADER 3424, which is designed for in-service applications such as ROADM (reconfigurable optical add/dropmultiplexer) or OXC (optical cross-connect). Other LightLEADER models based on Lynx's PLC switches are aimed at various protection switch applications, optical test access and monitoring.

"Carriers and their optical transport infrastructure vendors need to understand that not all transparent optical switches are created equal and that there are significant and often costly differences in implementation technology, scalability, reliability and robustness," said Frank Dzubeck, president of Communications Network Architects Inc., a Washington-based consulting firm "In this new millennium, with ever increasing customer bandwidth demands, when it comes to reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers and protection switch applications, carriers cannot afford to make a mistake in their choice of technology or vendor."

Lynx Photonic Networks