Optical Network Equipment Makers Begin Sampling Tunable Filters Using New Compliant MEMS Technology.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers Optical Fiber Communications 2002 WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 26, 2002 First Product From Solus Solus® Cardiology An ASIR, single-chamber, rate-modulated pulse generator. See Pacemaker. Micro Technologies Delivers High Finesse and Superior Channel Selectivity at Lower Cost Than Traditional MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) Tiny mechanical devices that are built onto semiconductor chips and are measured in micrometers. In the research labs since the 1980s, MEMS devices began to materialize as commercial products in the mid-1990s. Filters Solus Micro Technologies (www.solustech.com) announced it has begun releasing samples to potential customers of its first product offering (the TFM TFM Traffic Flow Management TFM TeX Font Metrics TFM Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana TFM Trusted Facility Manual TFM Testicular Feminization TFM Total Facility Management TFM Tentative Final Monograph TFM Transaction Flow Manager TFM Thermally Fused Melamine series), a family of high-performance tunable Fabry-Perot filters designed for use in optical telecommunications networking applications. The new TFM series will make its formal debut at the upcoming OFC OFC Office OFC Officer OFC Of Course OFC Oxygen Free Copper OFC Oceania Football Confederation (soccer) OFC Optical Fiber Cable OFC Optical Fiber Communications OFC Optical Fiber Conference (Optical Fiber Communication) trade show in Anaheim, CA, March 19-21, in the Solus booth (#6542). Several optical network equipment manufacturers -- including some of the industry's major players -- are already testing the new tunable filters incorporating Solus' proprietary Compliant MEMS (CMEMS CMEMS Compliant MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical System) ) technology, which is robust, simple in design and considerably more reliable and less expensive than traditional silicon-based MEMS. The TFM family is designed to be readily integrated into many high-performance DWDM (Dense WDM) The term given to wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) when significantly more channels were being added. Since WDM is increasingly more "dense" all the time, both terms are used synonymously. See WDM. DWDM - wavelength division multiplexing applications in both long-haul and metro networks Metro Networks is a broadcasting outsourcing company based in Houston, Texas. It is a subsidiary of Westwood One, which is managed by CBS Radio. The company operates a number of local and regional news and traffic facilities that provide regular reports to affiliates, together with , including optical performance monitoring Optical performance monitoring (OPM) is used for managing high capacity dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) optical transmission and switching systems in Next Generation Networks (NGN). and gain flattening. "Feedback from customers evaluating our filter components has been very positive," said Ben Jamison, Solus' vice president of marketing & sales. "We've achieved very high optical performance levels with the TFM-2000, and each filter is completely characterized before it goes out the door, and data is provided to each customer along with the filter. This ensures that potential customers are able to see the same performance that we did in our labs. We're now working on completing our design verification testing phase prior to entering into full Telecordia testing." The new CMEMS-based tunable filters deliver high finesse (up to 2,000) for superior channel selectivity, high filter contrast for precise measurements of optical power and signal/noise ratio, and low insertion loss The amount of loss attributed to a particular device being used in (inserted into) the system. For example, a circuit added to filter out unwanted frequencies may reduce the output current by some amount. See injection loss. for greater cost efficiency. Designed for long service life, they employ special drive electronics developed by Solus that provide precise filter element alignment and control over hundreds of millions of cycles. In addition, the TFM series is engineered to meet demanding Telecordia specifications, delivering superior thermal stability and resistance to shock and vibration. Solus' unique CMEMS platform adds more flexible elastomeric materials to the list of conventional rigid, silicon-based materials that can be deposited, patterned and etched. These compliant materials are as much as six orders of magnitude less stiff and can easily be tailored over a range of three orders of magnitude. Their flexible qualities greatly expand the design space for MEMS devices, making the CMEMS architecture ideal for a variety of high-performance tunable photonic components. Companies interested in sampling the new Solus TFM tunable filters should contact Ben Jamison at 818-991-7044, ext. 130, or via e-mail at bjamison@solustech.com. About Solus Micro Technologies Solus Micro Technologies is focused on providing high-performance tunable optical components that will enable new levels of performance and usability in a variety of optical networking Communications between computers, telephones and other electronic devices using light. An optical network is far more reliable and has far greater potential transmission capacity than networking in the electrical domain. See optical fiber. products. Using its unique Compliant MEMS architecture, the company will provide tunable components that significantly reduce the need for frequent signal regeneration and increase the agility of the optical network, reducing overall costs for both capital and operating expenditures. Solus is headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif. More information is available on the Web at www.solustech.com. |
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