ROADMs return

Reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers, or ROADMs, were a big part of the optical product activity at the last two Supercomms, and the same is true of Globalcomm 2006. Equipment vendors will unveil new ROADM gear at the show with greater differentiation for new applications. And at least one new ROADM vendor will be born.

It's no surprise the technology is getting more attention. Though ROADMs only represent about one-twelfth the overall optical networking equipment market, ROADMs are a subset of the fastest-growing segment, metro multiplexing, according to Infonetics Research. And ROADMs were the only optical products to see a sequential sales increase in the first quarter.

Nistica, a new start-up subsystem vendor launching at Globalcomm, will unveil three new ROADM subsystems and a bold proposal to bring ROADMs — deployed so far in long-haul and metro networks — to edge networks. The rise of optical access networks makes edge ROADMs necessary, Nistica said, and they could be available to carriers next spring.

“There's a tremendous need for automating the edge of the optical network,” said Ashish Vengsarkar, Nistica's CEO. “There's this huge gap in between the [passive optical network] area and the metro core.”

ECI Telecom is announcing more amplification in its own ROADM, extending its reach toward both the edge and the core. Also at the show, Ciena is adding wavelength-selective switching (WSS) to its CN 4200 multiservice transport platform, a method of remotely and automatically switching multiple wavelengths from ring to ring without the need for manual adjustments. Combining WSS with the 4200's existing sub-wavelength grooming capabilities, Ciena is achieving what it calls “dynamic wavelength routing.”

Tropic Networks is introducing a WSS ROADM this week. While rivals trumpeted WSS gear last year, Tropic insisted WSS was expensive and immature. But now its time has come, said Ben Bacque, Tropic's vice president of research and development. “WSS prototypes from multiple vendors [have become] fully qualified production devices,” he said.

Lambda Optical Systems is unveiling a WSS-based ROADM, which is based on Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture (ATCA), a group of specifications that allows the modular creation of telecom gear through the assembly of interoperable off-the-shelf subsystems. That building-block modularity lets carriers start out small, with, say, two degrees of wavelength switching, said Irfan Ali, Lambda chief executive.

To many vendors, however, ATCA hampers their ability to add their own “secret sauce” differentiators, said Vinay Rathore, Ciena's product marketing manager.