NeoPhotonics Announces General Availability of its PLC 2-Degree ROADM Module for Improved DWDM Network Operations.

CANNES, France -- NeoPhotonics, a leading global supplier of fiber optic products for long-haul, metro and FTTX networks, today announced the general availability of its 40-Channel Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Module (ROADM) with per channel Variable Optical Attenuators and Power Monitoring. A 2-degree ROADM allows any wavelength to be dropped or added at any node in a DWDM network.

NeoPhotonics' new ROADM module builds upon the success of NeoPhotonics' extensive line of Planar Lightwave Circuit (PLC) products, including Arrayed Wavelength Gratings (AWGs) and Variable Optical Multiplexers (VMUXs). First shipped seven years ago, these products have been embraced by customers around the globe and have accumulated more than 75 million device hours in the field.

"PLC integration is the most cost effective way to produce 2-degree ROADM modules," commented Dr. Ferris Lipscomb, VP of Marketing at NeoPhotonics. "Because NeoPhotonics has extensive design expertise and manufactures PLC devices in large volumes in our own wafer fab, we can readily combine building block elements to increase performance at a competitive cost.

"The incorporation of NeoPhotonics' ultra low loss DWDM MUX/DMUX into the popular ROADM configuration we are currently shipping significantly lowers insertion loss and ripple and increases the passband, which is critical in cascaded DWDM architectures," continued Dr. Lipscomb. "In addition, NeoPhotonics' extremely low power, high isolation, broadband PLC Switch-VOA-Tap (SVT) design enables a much higher level of single-chip integration, significantly reducing the power consumption, size and cost of NeoPhotonics' modules. This technology gives us a critical edge in the continuing evolution of PLC ROADMs, which demand significantly reduced power consumption and insertion loss on "through" and "add/drop" DWDM channels."

NeoPhotonics is showcasing here at ECOC, in booth 165, the industry's most complete portfolio of MEMS and PLC based optical solutions, as well as its extensive line of transceiver products in SFF, SFP, XFP, XENPAK and X2 form factors.

About NeoPhotonics

NeoPhotonics Corporation is a leading developer and vertically integrated manufacturer of advanced integrated optical modules and subsystems designed to improve the performance and lower the costs associated with backbone, access and storage optical networks. They are at the forefront of the long sought-after integration of active semiconductor, passive PLC and MEMS multi-dimensional switching functions into a single product. This integration is enabled by state-of-the-art integration, nanomaterials and nanoscale design and fabrication technologies. Backed by leading venture capital firms and institutional investors, NeoPhotonics maintains headquarters in San Jose, California and ISO 9001:2000 certified engineering and manufacturing facilities in Silicon Valley and Shenzhen, China.