Transmode announces expanded ROADM

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Transmode, a leading provider of Optical Networking Solutions today announces the availability of a fully-integrated 4-degree ROADM to further enhance optical network flexibility and manageability.

Fully integrated into the Transmode TM-Series, the new 4-degree Reconfigurable Optical Add Drop Multiplexer or ROADM enables operators to easily add flexibility to new or existing networks. Transmode’s first customer for the ROADM is currently deploying the new ROADM units and expects to be carrying live traffic from mid February.

Optical flexibility is becoming increasingly important as network capacity continues to grow as demand for higher capacity residential, mobile and business services increases. The ability to remotely reconfigure optical channels within the network allows the operator to greatly decrease service activation cost and time which increases service velocity with a corresponding positive impact on revenue and competitive edge for the operator.

Furthermore, flexible or agile networks can eliminate the issues associated with stranded bandwidth. Stranded bandwidth can occur within networks as capacity grows and changes over time, leaving optical channels partially reused but with some segments that are unused and potentially stranded. The Transmode ROADM allows operators to create new optical channels that use different wavelengths along the route, reusing previously stranded bandwidth.

According to research firm Infonetics, the global Metro ROADM market will exceed $1.5B in 2008 and will reach $2.6B in 2011 with a CAGR of 28%. The new ROADM allows Transmode to fully address this market, particularly in North America and Asia where ROADM deployments represent a larger percentage of the overall market than in Europe.

“Flexible ROADM networks represent the fastest growing segment of the metro optical market. We forecast that ROADM-enabled gear will reach 50% of global metro WDM sales in 2011”, stated Michael Howard, Principal Analyst at Infonetics Research. “Companies such as Transmode who have integrated multi-degree ROADM functionality into existing WDM platforms make it simple for operators to flexibly design and provision metro networks or retrospectively add ROADMs to existing networks. The integration of ROADM technology is a simple feature choice, just like other recent metro WDM innovations such as integrated Layer 2 Ethernet capabilities”.

The new ROADM nodes can support up to four degrees and local add/drop traffic, making the solution ideal for meshed networks or ring interconnection sites by the simple addition of the plug-in units. Containing an integrated Variable Optical Attenuator (VOA) for additional per-channel control, the new ROADM unit provides a very compact solution for next generation network flexibility.

“Metro and regional networks must evolve to support the rapid bandwidth growth generated by mobile data, Triple Play services and business Ethernet services. Network flexibility will become an increasingly powerful tool to enable operators to address this growth and differentiate themselves in an evermore competitive market,” said Sten Nordell, Transmode’s recently announced CTO. “The creation of a dynamic network with all the necessary management tools is a significant step and allows Transmode to fully address the rapidly growing ROADM segment within the metro optical market. The ROADM is simple to add to TM-Series networks and is already proving popular with customers with the first network deployment currently underway”.
Definitions:

4-degree ROADM - This is a ROADM equipped node that supports up to four separate routes to/from the node via input/output fiber pairs as well as additional local add/drop connections. This enables a single node to switch traffic between all four routes or to add/drop the traffic locally at the node.

About Transmode
Transmode is a leading provider of optical networking solutions for transport of data, voice and video traffic, based on CWDM and DWDM technology (Course/Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing).

Our customer base consists of more than 230 network operators, service providers, large enterprises and public institutions across Europe, the Americas and Asia.

Transmode’s comprehensive product portfolio and strong global organization enable our customers to cost efficiently grow the capacity and to improve service level of their regional, metro and metro access networks, without compromising on functionality.

For additional information about Transmode, please visit www.transmode.com