Azna LLC Announces Modulator-Free Long-reach Optical Transmission.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

WILMINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 26, 2004

Azna LLC, has announced a new laser product line based upon the company's proprietary Chirp Managed Directly Modulated (CMDM(TM)) laser technology. The company claims that their CMDM lasers outperform both externally modulated and electro-absorptive lasers and do so at a fraction of the price. Until now, expensive external modulators (such as LiNbO3 and EML modulators) needed to be deployed to "solve" the inherent wavelength chirp of the more simple directly modulated lasers. Azna's CMDM technology solves this chirp problem by implementing an elegant yet simple optical design. Azna's disruptive technology works by extending the reach of 10Gbps and 2.5Gbps directly modulated lasers to well over 640km therefore enabling long reach fiber links without external modulation. Because of its low cost structure CMDM lasers enable cost-effective broadband networks for metro applications, heretofore unattainable due to the prohibitively expensive externally modulated solutions.

"We are looking at a new era in fiberoptic transmission where metro and long-haul equipment manufactures can achieve superior performance while reducing cost by eliminating external modulators all together. In doing so our customers can design new equipment that consumes less power, uses lower cost electronics, and occupies less space" said Parviz Tayebati, CEO and cofounder of Azna LLC. Furthermore eliminating the external modulator and associated losses enables CMDM with higher average power of 7dBm while offering high extinction ratio greater than 11dB, tunability over 400GHz, uniform and low dispersion penalty of less than 2dB. Following successful field trials with a number of customers, we are now moving to pilot production and qualification of the products. The lasers will be produced in TOSA type packages for XFP and SFP footprints as well as standard butterfly packages.

Azna LLC (www.aznallc.com) was cofounded in September 2002 by a number of senior management previously with Nortel, Lucent and Opnext, CoreTek and Ortel with operations in Los Angeles and in Boston. Parviz Tayebati who previously founded CoreTek, Inc. (acquired by Nortel Networks in 2000) leads the company.