Alcatel Submarine Networks develops 3D WSS ROADM

Alcatel Submarine Networks introduced a new 3 Degree WSS ROADM unit designed to reduce the number of fiber pairs in the branch, leading to significant cost savings in subsea networks. The new ASN 3D WSS ROADM provides full WSS device flexibility maintaining East+West connectivity between trunk and branch. This simplifies the topology of complex networks and facilitates the implementation of branches on branches.

Key features:

• Full flexibility in traffic routing thanks to WSS component
• Submarine grade reliability thanks to WSS redundancy
• Fully configurable through active supervisory commands
• Embedded management of noise loading and traffic confidentiality
• Fully managed by ASN SN10 Network Management

Alain Biston, President and CEO of Alcatel Submarine Networks said: “The introduction of innovation 3D design as part of ASN WSS ROADM product family addresses the market demand for more connectivity and flexibility at a reasonable cost, keeping the same level of quality and reliability. It effectively complements the SDM1 by ASN product portfolio to support all traffic demands and decrease cost per bit. ASN is strongly supporting its customer initiatives to provide a reliable internet infrastructure to all communities around the world and will continue to innovate to support this common goal.”

ASN confirmed that its new 3D WSS ROADM has already been selected for a major submarine cable system project.

https://web.asn.com/en/press-room/alcatel-submarine-networks-to-launch-a-new-wss-roadm-unit.html

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ECOC 2018 - Lumentum intros Contentionless Wavelength Switch

At ECOC 2018, Lumentum introduced its next-generation, contentionless MxN Wavelength Selective Switch (WSS), adding to its extensive portfolio of Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer (ROADM) solutions for optical networking applications.

Lumentum's TrueFlex Twin 8x24 contentionless WSS delivers low loss, removing the need for Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) arrays in many network designs while enabling add/drop port scaling to support capacity growth in CDC networks. The WSS passband filters out wideband noise delivering high performance independent of port count and relaxes complex filtering requirements on transmitters and receivers. Eliminating EDFA arrays enables the delivery of higher density, lower cost, higher reliability, highly power efficient solutions.

Commercial availability is expected in Q1 2019.

"ROADMs have become critical network elements as they enable network operators to dynamically deliver and maximize network bandwidth on demand," said James Goodchild, director product line management, Wavelength Management products. "Current solutions which employ multicast switches are challenged to support the cost, density, and performance required by network operators in the future as they scale next generation Colorless, Directionless, Contentionless (CDC) networks. Only the contentionless MxN WSS, which takes a new innovative approach, provides the scale and performance benefits needed."

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