AFC's SmartAmp Products Provide Turn-Key Terabit Solution for Optical Networking.

OTTAWA/HULL, Canada--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 5, 1999-- Manufacturers of DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing)systems and network elements such as Add/Drop multiplexers, optical cross-connects, switches and routers will see their product development time much shortened while obtaining a terabit bandwidth performance thanks to the new released SmartAmp(tm) products from AFC Technologies Inc..

After being the first to introduce Double Band Fiber Amplifier (DBFA) which breaks the conventional EDFA bandwidth barrier for DWDM systems by offering a total of 75 nm bandwidth for terabit transmission at OFC'98, AFC Technologies Inc. revealed last week at OFC'99 (San Diego, CA), a series of SmartAmp(tm) amplifier products for the ever emerging optical networking market.

At the heart of SmartAmp(tm) product, is AFC's proprietary and matured DBFA technology, which offers the breakthrough high efficiency amplification doubling the conventional DWDM transmission capacity. DBFA is now equipped with intelligent computerized elements for control and monitoring, to feature fast response for add/drop, active and accurate gain control and high dynamic range for accommodating weak or strong signals from single or hundreds channels.

Optical amplifier is the enabler of DWDM transmission. Although a recent technology, it has become very fast an element that today and tomorrow's optical networking can not afford to overpass. However, conventional amplifier products used to be a "gain block", operating within 35 nm of Erbium Doped fiber bandwidth, containing especially optical components.

"New generation of optical networks needs optical amplifiers more than just a gain block", according to Dr. Dan Yang, Chief Technology Officer. "Add/drop multiplexers, cross-connects, routers, optical switches, WDM inline repeaters... they all need amplification to compensate loss, but this amplification is not more in a fixed environment, which has been the case for single channel SONET/SDH systems," said Dr. Yang.

In a multi-channel transport system, whether the network is configured point-to-point, single or multiple rings, optical signal level may change from a tenth of micro-watt, to several tens of mili-watts, a magnitude of ten thousand times. Channel numbers requiring amplification can vary from one to hundreds. Even direction of signal propagation can switch suddenly 180 degree, to bypass a fiber cut for example. How the amplifier is going to handle thousands of different situations and still keep its optimum performance, such as flat response to all channels, will determine the overall network performance. It's obvious that just amplification is no more enough. A piece of gain fiber pumped by a laser, this primitive amplifier era is over.

"With SmartAmp(tm) in hand, network developers will see their design and development time drastically shortened as different situations are handled already by the smart amplifier. At the same time a doubled operating window is theirs to accommodate hundreds of channels for terabit transmission," Yang added. As networks are becoming more and more complex, how fast system and network element manufacturers can finish their design and put their product in the market, this will determine their position in the optical networking market.

About AFC Technologies Inc.

AFC Technologies Inc., founded in 1996, is a privately owned, Ottawa-based fast growing company specialized in broadband amplifier technology. Winner of Canadian Grand Prize for Technology Innovation (1997), the company is known to be a pioneer in DWDM amplifier for terabit networking. Its customers include most of major telecom equipment and component manufacturers in North America, Europe and Asia-pacific. More information can be found by visiting company's web site www.afctek.com