Dual Wavelength Selective Switch (WSS)

Product Detail

The application of Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers (ROADM) in DWDM optical networks has expanded in recent years to support increasingly more directions as well as increased flexibility in the add/drop structure. Flexgrid® technology is now essential in the efficient use of optical bandwidth for extremely high data rates and advanced modulation formats employed by next generation DWDM transmitters/receivers, including 400Gb/s and 1 Tbit/s signals of the future. These higher data rates require that channel spacing is flexible and can be increased real-time to allow the network to adapt to new transmission formats. Deployment of colorless, directionless (CD) ROADMs and colorless, directionless, contentionless (CDC) is facilitated by the introduction of route & select (R&S) ROADM architectures which, unlike broadcast & select (B&S) ROADMs that require only one WSS per direction, require two WSS per direction. By integrating two WSS, each featuring superior optical performance, in a single module the dual WSS modules by Finisar are optimized for this new generation of R&S ROADMs. Dual WSS modules can also be used as CD 2xNxM Add/Drop modules. Enabled by Finisar LCoS technology, Finisar dual WSS products support Flexgrid® technology, which provides dynamic control of the channel width. Furthermore, once deployed, channel plans are configurable ‘on-the-fly’, meaning that channel bandwidths can be adjusted to most efficiently carry future demand as it arises. Furthermore, Flexgrid® offers full backwards compatibility with both the standard 100 GHz and 50 GHz ITU grids. Flexgrid® also enables the equalization of the power within a single channel, especially important for multicarrier optical signals. Finisar dual modules are available in two mechanical versions: Standard Profile and Low Profile. Low Profile is specifically designed for applications where available space is limited; single slot linecards, for example, require dualHD Low Profile modules. Standard Profile modules can be used in all other applications.