EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering has launched its 'next-generation' FTB-5500B polarisation mode dispersion (PMD) Analyser. Claimed to be the only portable instrument on the market that can sweep through erbium-doped fibre amplifiers (EDFAs), this PMD analyser enables field technicians to characterise PMD levels in an entire optical network with a single touch of a button.
PMD is a physical phenomenon inherent to optical fibre and optical components that causes a statistical spreading of light pulses as they travel along a network. This degrades the quality of the transmission signal and, in turn, limits the transmission rates carried by optical networks. Optical links must be measured for PMD, especially when upgrading to transmission rates of 10 Gbps or when deploying a cascade of amplifiers.
The FTB-5500B PMD Analyser, a test module housed inside the company's all-in-one, FTB-400 field-testing platform, also provides very advanced specifications in terms of testing time, measurement sensitivity and PMD range. This test instrument can characterise an entire link, with a dynamic range above 50 dB and PMD range from 0 to 115 ps, in less than five seconds.
"This product represents a veritable breakthrough because it can be combined with a chromatic dispersion (CD) analyser inside our PC-centric, Windows-based FTB-400 platform along with a single light source to identify all dispersion issues on fibre links - even in the presence of optical amplifiers," said Étienne Gagnon, director of product management at EXFO.
"Testing through EDFAs is critical in long-haul optical networks and the impact of amplifiers on overall network performance should not be underestimated," he added. "We have carried out tests on 800-km links delineated by more than 10 amplifiers, and our PMD Analyzer delivered results with the utmost accuracy. This unmatched accuracy and EDFA testing are due to our patent-pending technology that measures minute PMD levels through separate auto- and cross-correlation data."
For more information contact Chris Nel, Lambda Test Equipment, 012 349 1341, [email protected]
| Tel: | +27 12 349 1341 |
| Email: | [email protected], [email protected] |
| www: | www.lambdatest.co.za |
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