QUEBEC CITY -- EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ: EXFO, TSX: EXF) announced today the introduction of the new IQS-8140 Transport Blazer — a SONET/SDH/OTN (optical transport network) test module for high-speed performance validation and monitoring applications at 40/43 Gbit/s. The IQS-8140 Transport Blazer automates next-generation SONET/SDH/OTN and ROADM (reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer) testing with a broad range of SCPI (standard commands for programmable instrumentation) and intuitive macro-recorder functionalities to address growing requirements of network equipment vendors in system verification, manufacturing and troubleshooting of network elements to meet industry standards.

The IQS-8140 Transport Blazer test module includes an intuitive, feature-rich user interface to streamline testing of OC-768, STM-256 and OTN links (with ITU-T G.709 forward error correction (FEC)) without compromising on functionality. The IQS-8140 is also compatible with NRZ, ODB, DSPK, and DQPSK optical transmission protocols to address all transport testing needs while ensuring future scalability.

Network equipment manufacturers can extract the maximum value from their investment in the IQS-8140 Transport Blazer by leveraging EXFO’s IQS-600 modular and highly scalable PC-based Integrated Qualification System which offers the widest range of optical test capabilities (Polarization Mode Dispersion Analyzer, Optical Spectrum Analyzer, Variable Optical Attenuators, Wavelength Meters, etc.) and transmission test modules (Ethernet with VoIP/IPTV capabilities, SONET/SDH, OTN, Fibre Channel), thus providing a truly unified platform for physical and transmission testing. This future-proof test platform and its wide range of modules are perfectly suited for test automation applications requiring speed, flexibility and scalability.

In addition, the IQS-8140 Transport Blazer module can be matched with the recently introduced IQS-8130NGE Power Blazer to address DSn/PDH, SONET/SDH (155M to 40G), OTN (2.7G to 43G) and Ethernet (10M to 10GigE LAN/WAN) testing requirements in a single platform.

“Leading network equipment manufacturers worldwide are aggressively developing next-generation 40 Gbit/s SONET/SDH and 43 Gbit/s OTN core transmission equipment to support the ever-increasing global demand for IP-based services, ” said Etienne Gagnon, EXFO’s Vice-President of Product Management and Marketing. “EXFO’s IQS-600/IQS-8140 Transport Blazer provides system verification, R&D and manufacturing teams with carrier-grade testing capabilities to easily, efficiently and reliably validate network elements in a controlled, repeatable environment.”

EXFO (Nasdaq: EXFO; Toronto: EXF)