Optical test products on the rise
Optical Fiber Communications/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference, March 7–9, Anaheim, CA. www.ofcconference.org.
Staff -- Test & Measurement World, 5/1/2005
At this year's OFC/NFOEC, one thing became apparent—fiber to the home (FTTH), fiber to the premise (FTTP), or fiber to the whatever you want to call it (FTTx) is the technology driving the communications business. That includes test and measurement, as numerous test equipment makers displayed handheld equipment such as OTDRs that can test newly installed short-run fiber.
Anritsu (www.us.anritsu.com ) demonstrated a 40-Gbps jitter and BER tester used in R&D labs. For development of 10-Gbps products and networks, Anritsu introduced the MP 1590B SONET tester, which complies with ITU-T recommendation O.172 for jitter measurements. Yokogawa (www.yokogawa.com) displayed light sources, OTDRs, an optical sampling scope, laser sources, optical packet switches, and a 10-Gbps BERT. Circadiant Systems (www.circadiant.com) demonstrated an optical standards tester (OST) that automates BER vs. optical power and BER vs. OSNR tests. The company introduced the A3318, an interface between electrical signals and 850-nm multimode fiber for the OST.
Peleton (www.peleton.com) introduced the TM3100C multiwavelength laser source that can produce light in the C band at up to 40 wavelengths at 100- GHz spacing. The TM3050C can produce 80 wavelengths at 50-GHz spacing. Agilent Technologies (www.agilent.com) introduced an 8X Fibre Channel tester and displayed the E6000 series OTDRs.
Newport (www.newport.com) exhibited power meters and polarization measurement-and-control units that you can use to build an optical control loop. SHF Communication Technologies (www.shf.biz) showed a BERT that the company says operates at 50 Gbps. dBm Optics (www.dbmoptics.com) introduced an optical power meter and displayed a component spectrum analyzer that characterizes transmitters and receivers.
EXFO (www.exfo.com) demonstrated its FTB-400 test platform, which consists of several mainframes that accept 15 different input modules such as an OTDR and optical spectrum analyzer. Acterna (www.acterna.com) displayed test equipment for physical-layer testing, including the ONT-506, an optical spectrum analyzer with BERT capabilities. Apex Technologies (www.apex-t.com) exhibited an optical spectrum analyzer and optical vector analyzer.
LeCroy (www.lecroy.com) demonstrated its Serial Data Analyzer and its WaveSurfer oscilloscope. ILX Lightwave (www.ilxlightwave.com ) displayed laser-diode test equipment, including a current source, parameter analyzer, and burn-in tester. PXIT www.pxit.com ), a maker of PXI modular instruments, showed its power meter, BERT, and optical attenuator.
Continuum Photonics (www.continuumphotonics.com ) showed its optical switches working with test equipment from Agilent Technologies. NetTest (www.nettest.com) displayed the CMA 5000 multilayer test platform along with several handheld instruments for field applications.
Synthesys Research (www.bertscope.com) displayed its BERTscope line of BER testers that also display eye diagrams and operate on data streams up to 12.5 Gbps. OptoTest (www.optotest.com) introduced modular power meters that connect to a computer's USB port for portable, low-cost measurements.
