ADVA ANNOUNCES ITS NEXT GENERATION METRO PLATFORM
ADVA Optical Networking introduced its Fiber Service Platform (FSP) 2000, a metro optical access system specifically designed for enterprise customers which require flexible, cost-effective aggregation and transmission of services.  The platform provides in-service migration from 1 channel point-to-point connection to a 256 protected channel solution in a managed ring.  The ADVA FSP 2000 scales up to 32 DWDM channels (64 unprotected) and offers an 8:1 TDM capability that would enable the platform to carry up to 256 applications over one fiber pair.  The system supports all native protocols from 10 Mbps up to 10 Gbps, including all speeds of Ethernet, FDDI, ATM, SONET/SDH, Digital video, ESCON, Fibre Channel, FICON and GDPS/Coupling Link over 850nm, 1310nm and 1550nm wavelengths using multimode or single mode fiber.  ADVA said storage networks are the “killer application” for its metro optical solutions.  http://www.advaoptical.com/adva_press.asp?id=66&action=view&msgid=73
ADVA Optical Networking, May 29, 2001

• ADVA now claims to have over 10,000 WDM channels installed at customer sites.
• Separately, ADVA reported Q1 sales of EUR 18.1 million, an increase of 75.3% over sales in the first quarter of 2000.  Metro service provider end customers increased from 14 in Q1 2000 to 33 in Q1 2001.

ALIDIAN DEBUTS OSN 4400 METRO DWDM PLATFORM
Alidian Networks, a start-up based in San Jose, California, introduced a new metro optical networking platform that allows carriers to designate any of four protected OC-48 wavelengths as either SONET or multi-service IP.  The 18-slot OSN 4400 chassis supports Alidian's new SONET Add/Drop Multiplexer cards, which add standard SONET capability to the OSN family, allowing TDM voice traffic to be picked up and delivered at any destination (e.g., any "carrier hotel" in the metro network) rather than having to be hubbed to a single central office.  Two slots each (for redundancy purposes) are devoted to system control and Alidian’s flexible add/drop modules.  Six slots support user service interface modules, including ATM, packet-over-SONET, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, and storage-area network interfaces.  The remaining eight slots are for multi-service or SONET transmission modules; each pair of these slots creates one of four protected OC-48 wavelengths.  Product availability is expected in Q4.  The new OSN 4400 system rounds out Alidian's family of metro aggregation and transport systems, which already includes the OSN 4200 and OSN 4800, supporting two and eight protected wavelengths, respectively.  http://www.alidian.com/news/press/2001/052901.shtml
Alidian Networks, May 29, 2001

• Alidian Networks is led by Barton Shigemura, who previously served as vice president of marketing for Lucent Technologies' Data Networking Systems Division.  The company was founded in August 1998 by Dr. David Newman, formerly vice president of engineering at Bay Networks, where he led the Rapid City Communications engineering team.  Newman was  previously a vice president of engineering at Fore Systems/Alantec.

LUMINOUS TO SHOW ITS 2.5 GBPS METRO ETHERNET ACCESS PLATFORM
Luminous Networks, a start-up based in Cupertino, California, introduced 2.5 Gbps capabilities for its ring-based metro Ethernet platform.  The M2500 PacketWave platform supports services such as 100 Mbps Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, broadcast and interactive video, T1/E1, virtual private networks, toll-quality telephony and Internet access over metro fiber rings.  Luminous Networks supports Resilient Packet Transport, which is a superset of the Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) standard under development by the IEEE 802.17 RPR standards body.  Luminous is also offering a 16-channel capable DWDM option that adds capacity in increments of two wavelengths.  http://www.luminous.com
Luminous Networks, May 29, 2001

• Luminous Networks was founded in June 1998.  The company is led by Alex Naqvi, formerly VP and General Manager at Chips and Technologies.

OPTHOS OUTLINES PLANS FOR INSTANTANEOUS WAVELENGTH TECHNOLOGY
Opthos, a start-up based in San Carlos, California, announced plans for a wavelength delivery system based on next-generation optical technology and IP protocols.  Opthos’ Instantaneous Wavelengths would enable the dynamic delivery of wavelengths to any port of any node in fewer than 50 milliseconds.  The fast provisioning would allow wavelengths to be shared among multiple storage area network (SAN) clients and rearranged to accommodate rapidly changing data requirements.  Design plans call for the Opthos system to support up to 32 protected, or 64 unprotected, wavelengths in a single, compact 10U shelf.  The company plans to demonstrate a three node metro core ring interoperating with multiple vendor partners at SUPERCOMM.  http://www.opthos.com
Opthos, May 29, 2001

• Opthos was co-founded in early 2000 by Robert Lundy, previously President and CEO of Xtera Communications (an optical transmission company), and Joe Parket, previously Director of Systems at Xtera.

ALTRA BROADBAND REPORTS 4X BANDWIDTH BOOST WITH DENSE SUBCARRIER MULTIPLEXING (XDSM)
Altra Broadband, a subsidiary of Ansoft Corporation, introduced a Dense Subcarrier Multiplexing (xDSM) technology that uses a unique combination of advanced digital signal processing, multilevel signaling, and subcarrier multiplexing to achieve a four-fold increase in data speed and capacity on optical wavelengths.  The company says its xDSM technology mitigates delay mode distortion (DMD) and has the potential to compensate for chromatic and polarization mode dispersion (PMD) on 40 Gbps long-haul systems.  Potential applications could include long-haul optical trunks, metro-area networks and storage area networks.  Altra Broadband is based in Irvine, California.  http://www.altrabroadband.com/
Altra Broadband, May 29, 2001

VIPSWITCH SELECTS NETPLANE'S MPLS AND IP ROUTING SOFTWARE
VIPswitch, a start-up developing application aware Terabit Switch/Routers for metro networks, has chosen NetPlane Systems’ MPLS and IP Routing software.  The two companies also announced plans to collaborate on customer solutions and marketing activities.  http://www.netplane.com
NetPlane, May 29, 2001

• Earlier this month, NetPlane Systems introduced a BGP 4 (Border Gateway Protocol) module for its carrier class, OPTIRoute IP routing software suite.  The company's initial OPTIRoute release, which was launched earlier this year, already supported the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) interior gateway protocol.   NetPlane’s source code is targeted at high performance IP service platforms, optical switches, petabit and terabit routers, broadband access devices, multi-protocol core and edge routers.  NetPlane’s OPTIRoute source code leverages a carrier-class Forwarding Information Base (FIB) to distribute IP routing functionality for platform scalability.  The design also supports MPLS traffic engineering through the ability to provide constrained route lookups for MPLS signaling protocols during LSP establishment.  The company’s portable source code now encompasses MPLS, IP Routing, ATM and Frame Relay.
• The VIPswitch router will use parallel processing technology to deliver real-time complex packet processing at wire-speed.  Deep packet processing at the metro core could enable application-aware optical Ethernet networks.  The company is based in Montreal, Canada and has offices in Burlington, Massachusetts.  http://www.vipswitch.com
• In April, VIPswitch named Don Gibbs as President and CEO, replacing Luc Beaubien, who will remain with the company until the end of June.  Gibbs most recently was President & CEO of Positron Fiber Systems, an early developer of data optimized SONET add/drop multiplexers that was acquired by Reltec, which was later bought by Marconi.

FUJITSU’S LATEST OPTICAL MANAGEMENT SUPPORTS SONET AND DWDM
Fujitsu Network Communications released a new element management system supporting both SONET and DWDM network elements.  The new software now allows up to 5,000 separate network elements to be managed by up to 50 simultaneous users.  New features to NETSMART 2.0 include wavelength management, log and administration management, topology and cross-connect management, and a generic network element feature. In addition, a new ATM provisioning and management feature provides a separate ATM topology view and allows customers to create service-provisioning profiles based on QoS parameters.  The graphical user interface-based system features remote memory backup for network element configurations, remote memory restoration for recovery purposes and the ability to download new software releases to the network elements.  http://www.fnc.fujitsu.com
Fujitsu Network Communications, May 29, 2001

ALCATEL AND CORNING CROSS-LICENSE PHOTONIC COMPONENT AND FIBER TECHNOLOGY
Alcatel and Corning signed of a cross-licensing agreement for photonic components and specialty photonic fibers in conjunction with a three year supply agreement for dispersion compensation modules (DCM).  Both Corning and Alcatel will permit access to each other's patented photonic component technologies.  Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.  http://www.alcatel.com
Alcatel, May 29, 2001

KPNQWEST COMPLETES OC-192 NORDIC RING AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
KPNQwest activated the 4,500 km 6-city Nordic Ring of its 20,000km EuroRings network one month ahead of schedule.  The self-healing ring consists of 96 optical fiber strands, each capable of delivering 80 wavelengths at 10 Gbps.  The ring includes 38 repeater huts, re-generator stations, secure power supply and back-up to ensure full redundancy and connectivity through a high-capacity undersea cable, which connects to the German Ring in Hamburg.  Major nodes include Stockholm, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Helsinki, Malmo and Oslo.  http://www.kpnqwest.com
KPNQwest, May 29, 2001

DIGITAL ISLAND INTEGRATES CONTENT DELIVERY WITH EXCITE@HOME'S BACKBONE
Digital Island will connect its content delivery with Excite@Home's IP backbone to speed delivery of corporate web content to Excite@Home's broadband subscribers.  http://www.digitalisland.net
Digital Island, May 29, 2001

SANTERA SHIPS ITS FIRST INTEGRATED VOICE/DATA SWITCHES
Santera Systems, a start-up based in Dallas, Texas, began shipping its first integrated voice/data switching platforms to several unnamed customers.  The SanteraOne platform is now rolling into commercial networks as a lower cost broadband solution for Class 5, Class 4 and PRI Offload services and for supporting new services such as Voice Over Broadband and IP services.  http://www.santera.com
Santera Systems, May 29, 2001

LUCENT INTRODUCES STINGER MICRO-REMOTE TERMINAL DSLAM
Lucent Technologies introduced a Stinger Micro-Remote Terminal (MRT) that works with existing digital loop carrier (DLC) systems to extend DSL to hard-to-reach customers.  The mini-DSL access multiplexer (DSLAM), which is “about the size of a pizza box,” is an ATM-switch-based platform that can be cascaded locally or can be subtended from distant remote sites.  http://www.lucent.com/press/0501/010529.nsc.html
Lucent Technologies, May 29, 2001

AGERE DEVELOPS LOW-VOLTAGE 40 GBPS MODULATOR
Agere Systems introduced a 2.5 volt drive (referenced at 1 gigahertz) lithium niobate modulator for use in 40 Gbps optical transmission systems.  A modulator converts steady, or continuous wave (CW), laser output into high-speed light pulses that transmit voice, data and video signals.  The device is placed externally to the CW laser source in an optical networking system.  Agere said its low-voltage design represents a major performance improvement in 40 Gbps technology.  The device is currently sampling.  Unit pricing is expected to be less than $10,000 in volume quantities.  http://www.lucent.com/press/0501/010529.mea.html
Agere Systems, May 29, 2001

ALCATEL AND LUCENT END MERGER TALKS
Alcatel and Lucent Technologies have ended discussions concerning a possible merger of the two companies.  http://www.lucent.com/press/0501/010529.coa.html 
Lucent Technologies, May 29, 2001