Oplink Communications Inc. (Quote), a designer and maker of optical components and subsystems, today announced the initial shipment of its Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter (AOTF) products for use in a next-generation optical network application to be announced later this year.
Oplink acquired the innovative Acousto-Optic (AO) technology through its acquisition last year of Aurora Photonics. AOTF products can utilize various mediums such as crystals, fibers and waveguides in which acoustic waves at radio frequencies (RF) are used to selectively separate a single wavelength of light at extremely fast tuning speeds from a broadband, multicolor source, without additional de-multiplexing. The wavelength of light selected is determined by the frequency of the RF applied. The wavelength is tuned by varying the frequency of the RF.
AOTF products offer cost and functionality advantages over competing tunable technologies, Oplink said. These high-speed remotely tunable filters enable dynamic bandwidth allocation, remote provisioning and switching for both system and network service cost reductions.
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