Polatis Launching New Products at OFC/NFOEC 2006

Polatis Inc announced its plans to release several core new products at OFC/NFOEC 2006. Polatis will be demonstrating these products as part of an exhibit aimed at users in the video broadcast, Government systems, instrumentation & test, and telecommunication networking segments. Attendees in Anaheim will be able to interact with switching demonstrations as part of a high definition video network, a remote fiber test system for network monitoring & fault location, and an automated test solution for optical modules. The live product demonstrations will take place in the Polatis booth #1940, during exhibition hours Tuesday March 7 through Thursday March 9.

OFC/NFOEC 2006 is the first tradeshow after the merger of Polatis Ltd with Continuum Photonics late in 2005, and the company will now be exhibiting as the combined business, Polatis Incorporated. With the merger, Polatis has strengthened its position in the optical systems industry, emerging as a world leader in optical switching. All of the Polatis products are based on the DirectLight platform – a beam-steering technology that sets the standard for optical performance. Polatis has carried this momentum forward, with an expanded product line, multiple manufacturing locations, and Sales and Support in North America, Europe, and now Asia.

At OFC/NFOEC 2006, Polatis will announce several entirely new products, marking a significant expansion to its existing product line of optical switches. These product introductions include:

The TrinityTM family of optical video routing switchers, a specialized product for customers in the video transport, broadcast, and post-production industries. Through its all-optical nature, Trinity expands the capabilities of today’s broadcast infrastructure to meet the needs of existing & future broadcast standards. Symmetric and asymmetric configurations to 64 total ports are currently offered.

As an expansion of its Instrumentation line, Polatis is launching the VST optical switch. The VST is the first of its kind, and fully integrates an ultra-low loss optical matrix switch with variable optical attenuator and calibrated power meter in one compact package. Port sizes include 4x4 through 32x32, and options for the powerful user-assignable port asymmetry feature.

Targeted at customers in its Government Systems and Instrumentation lines, Polatis is introducing the world’s first optical matrix switch card, based on the compact PCI (cPCI) standard. Port sizes range from 4 to 16 total ports, fully reconfigurable, and are mounted into standard 6U backplanes with dual redundant Ethernet interface.

Already deployed in network monitoring applications, Polatis will formally announce the High Port count Asymmetric (HPA) product for network monitoring, test, and provisioning. Aimed at RFTS and PON/FTTx test & monitoring, the HPA is a highly flexible system, capable of port arrangements from 4x196 to 16x64 in a single 6U chassis, and is expandable to 8x900 in a single rack – while maintaining less than 2.0 dB loss.

Polatis will also be showing previously released products, including its OSM (Optical Switch Module) products, available in both hermetic and non-hermetic configurations, and its widely-deployed OST (Optical Switch Tray) product in 4x4 to 32x32 sizes, available with user-assignable port asymmetry. Many of the Polatis products are available in both single mode and multimode configurations.

“This OFC tradeshow is a testament to how seriously Polatis views its goal of leadership in the optical switch market”, stated Dave Lewis, Polatis CEO. “We continue to demonstrate our ability to innovate and deploy products that solve important customer needs. We have the widest family of optical switch products, enabling us to address the largest number of markets. In every product, we deliver unparalleled performance – setting the benchmark for others to follow. Over the next six months you will see more exciting products, including those that address switching in the core of the network.”

As part of its new product introductions, Polatis has planned live demonstrations of ten products to showcase the unique features and ultra-low loss performance. As part of the launch of the Trinity video product, Polatis will demonstrate optical switching of uncompressed high definition (HD) video signals in an end-to-end SMPTE-292 HD network. Polatis will integrate JDSU optical test equipment, as part of a “total test solution” demonstration, illustrating the power of a switch to effectively automate tests in design & production environments. JDSU has a worldwide distribution agreement with Polatis for its entire Instrumentation line of products. To illustrate the effectiveness of a switch as part of a fiber layer management strategy, Polatis will demonstrate the HPA product in a scenario where it will be used to actively monitor and locate fiber faults, and to allow restoration of services.