Optical Solutions, a start-up based in Minneapolis, raised $15 million in third round funding for its fiber-optic broadband platforms. Existing investors that participated in the round included Sprout Group, St. Paul Venture Capital, Boston Millennia Partners, Coral Ventures, Intel Capital, and Menlo Ventures. Cisco Systems also joined the Series III financing as a new corporate investor.
http://www.opticalsolutions.com
- In August 2003, Optical Solutions introduced a new FiberPath 500 fiber to the premises (FTTP) system that uses either BPON (ITU G.983, 622 Mbps downstream/155 Mbps upstream) or GPON (ITU G.984, 1.2 Gbps downstream/622 Mbps upstream) standards. The network protocol is software selectable.
- Optical Solutions' FiberPath 500 architecture is based on a central office (CO) FiberDrive Optical Line Terminal (OLT), and features an integrated GR-303/TR-08 voice gateway for interface directly to all the commonly deployed Class 5 switches. The FiberDrive OLT has an aggregate capacity exceeding 9 Gbps. A passive optical network (PON) is used to drive the FiberPoint Optical Network Terminal (ONT) unit installed at the subscriber's residence or business.
- Optical Solutions is offering five different versions of its customer premise device, the FiberPath 500 ONT. The line-up offers a choice of either two or four POTS lines, one 10/100 BaseT port and 1 CATV port. All models support switched digital video services, while two of the models support RF video overlay services. Using a standard FSAN single-fiber network design, the FiberPath 500 fully supports RF video deployments including those with RF return set top boxes. RF performance exceeds 48 dB carrier-to-noise ratio at 20 kilometers/12 miles on a fully loaded PON.
- A business version of the FiberPoint ONT provides 20 POTS lines, 4 10/100 BaseT Ethernet, 8 T1s and 4 CATV ports. All ONT models are powered by 120 volt, 60 Hz AC power via an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). They also provide battery backup for 8 hours after disruption of local AC power. Battery charge and end-of-life are monitored and reported through the FiberPoint ONT to the management system.
