CoreTek Announces Its Revolutionary SpectraSpan Product Line.

Business/Technology Editors

WILMINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 3, 2000

CoreTek Inc., a Massachusetts based start-up that is developing innovative solutions for evolving optical networks, announced the imminent roll-out of its SpectraSpan(TM) product line and plans to take the company on a path to be a leader in the Optical Networking industry.

The SpectraSpan(TM) product line, the company's first suite of full tunable solutions will be featured at next weeks Optical Fiber Communication conference (OFC2000) in Baltimore, MD. This will be a comprehensive product roll-out that includes a "turn-key" tunable source solution, and a family of wavelength monitors.

The SpectraSpan(TM) tunable source is a complete DWDM source solution that is tunable across a full ITU band. The company reported that there will be versions for both C-band and L-band coverage. Essentially, one transmitter card can replace 32, 80, or more separate Transmitter cards resulting in tremendous savings. Dr. Parviz Tayebati, CoreTek's founder and CEO, outlined the tunable solution as one based on key component technology that was developed and is manufactured at CoreTek. He said, "we are fully vertically integrated at CoreTek from device fabrications through sub-systems manufacturing". He continued, "...customers have looked for complete solutions, like the solution offered by CoreTek that integrates the tunable laser and broadband locker into a single product. By extending our capabilities into sub-systems, we allow our customers to brainstorm the network paradigms that will lead to the next revolution in telecommunications."

The company also shared some of the results of their recent system level testing on the tunable VCSEL (vertical cavity surface emitting laser). Among the reported results, CoreTek has successfully demonstrated error free transmission of a 2.5 Gbps (OC-48) signal over a 510 kilometer test bed. The company is currently evaluating transmission over 800km.and expects to announce results by May 1, 2000. In an evaluation that bodes well for CoreTek's success in Metropolitan DWDM applications, the company also demonstrated error free transmission over a 125 kilometer distance with a directly modulated 2.5 Gbps signal. Dr. Daryoosh Vakhshoori, one of the founders and the CTO indicated "we are very pleased with the systems level testing; the performance of CoreTek's tunable VCSEL is as good as, if not better than fixed wavelength lasers used in the control group."

CoreTek also announced two versions of a wavelength monitor, its Gain Tilt Monitor which provides a measure of optical power per channel and its Optical Performance Monitor that would be used in applications where full spectral characterization is required. Dr. Tayebati indicated, "these products have tremendous performance advantages over the competition in terms of power consumption, scanning speed, scanning range, spectral resolution and size". In fact, Tayebati indicated that the integrated nature of CoreTek's product would make incorporation of the wavelength monitor function into fiber amplifiers a reality. Like the tunable source announcement, the wavelength monitors are based on proprietary component technology developed and manufactured at CoreTek.

CoreTek's products are designed to address the needs of the rapidly growing and evolving optical network market. According to RHK, Inc., a market research firm based in South San Francisco, the market for key terrestrial DWDM optical components is projected to grow from $1.6 billion in 1999 to $8.2 billion by 2003. Lynn Hutcheson, Director of Optical Components at RHK said, "companies that are innovative and focused on providing tunable solutions may be poised to catch the next technology shift as the network adapts to become reconfigurable and more flexible."

Finally, revealing some of their future plans, Dr. Tayebati said "CoreTek intends to add further value to our tunable source and we will continue to look for opportunities to solve customer challenges and provide the full "turn-key" solution. He emphasized, "we want to provide value in terms of time-to-market, performance and cost effectiveness."

CoreTek is located in Wilmington, MA, in the heart of the Photon Valley and has developed and is commercializing break-through tunable photonic solutions for Long Haul and Metropolitan dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) systems. Other applications include those for evolving elements of an All-Optical Network such as Optical Cross Connects (OXC), Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers (OADM) and Wavelength Routers. CoreTek recently announced its $20.5 million second round of financing led by Oak Investment Partners and which also included Adams Capital Management, Hillman Capital, JK&B Capital, and Broadview.

For more information, please visit the corporate website at www.coretekinc.com or contact Tom Dudley, VP, Marketing at 978-570-1200.