High-precision instrument allows network operators to select and isolate any ITU DWDM channel in the C-Band for bit-error-rate testing and protocol-layer analysis
Exfo Electro-Optical Engineering has announced the launch of the FTB-9310 channel selector for commissioning and lighting channels in dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) networks.
This high-precision instrument allows network operators to select and isolate - with insertion loss levels at an industry-leading 4dB - any International Telecommunication Union (ITU) DWDM channel in the C-Band for bit-error-rate testing and protocol-layer analysis.
"Exfo's channel selector is tailor-made for commissioning and lighting new channels because it enables non-intrusive, low-loss and high-isolation channel filtering," said Sami Yazdi, president of Exfo Protocol, a wholly owned subsidiary of Exfo.
"These best-in-class features are additional reasons that render the FTB-400 the most fully integrated, highly advanced and widely entrenched all-in-one test platform in the industry." The FTB-9310 channel selector, the latest in a series of leading-edge modules contained inside the FTB-400 field-testing platform, is typically used with the FTB-8000 Sonet/SDH 2.5 or 10Gb/s tester for protocol-layer testing applications.
The channel selector and Sonet/SDH tester can also be combined with the FTB-5240B optical spectrum analyser to provide operators with a complete, one-stop test solution.
"Network operators no longer need to sacrifice specifications on their OSA and drop-port function because they are trying to use the same instrument for two different applications," Mr Yazdi added.
"Now, they can purchase specifically what they need - channel selector, Sonet/SDH tester, OSA or all three test modules-without compromising on specifications." Following its long tradition of adapting similar technologies to different markets, Exfo has also developed the IQS-9310 channel selector for the system manufacturing market.
System vendors can use the IQS-9310 for accurate amplifier characterisation or bit-error-rate (BER) performance testing of long-haul and metro systems.
"While some competitors are starting to imitate Exfo's unique all-in-one concept that was developed in the mid-1990s, our well-established platform base and very solid financials provide customers with the lowest possible risk and highest possible return on their investments in test and measurement," Mr Yazdi concluded.
