Aurora Networks’ OP4528 Light-Plex product – which acts as a narrowcast demultiplexer and a broadcast/narrowcast combiner – is now available, and it boasts remote power-level management for field deployment in Aurora’s VH4000 Virtual Hub (VHub) and NC4000 node platform.
According to Aurora, remote power-level management simplifies the installation, set-up and maintenance of Fiber Deep dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) network architectures, and Fiber Deep is the company’s specialty.
In conjunction with Aurora’s element management software, the output level of the combined broadcast/narrowcast signals are set to remotely realign power levels for optimal system performance, the company said. And network balancing can be accomplished remotely from the Network Operations Center (NOC), headend or hub, without the need for a truck roll, and without interrupting existing subscribers’ services.
When the OP4528 Light-Plex is incorporated into Aurora’s VHub, it offers capital expenditure savings by eliminating the need for a hub site, reducing deployment time and operating costs, and supporting 24 unique optical signals that serve up to 20,000 homes in a standard node housing – without external cooling or ventilation requirements.
According to Dawn Emms, Aurora’s director of marketing for optical transport solutions, the company’s OP4528 featured heavily in the upgrade of Vidéotron’s network in Montreal (story here). Both the Vidéotron upgrade and the OP4528 Light-Plex product were announced last year during the Cable-Tec Expo in Philadelphia.
“The OP4528 Light-Plex has the most effective power-level management capabilities for the cable market, enabling operators to better manage Fiber Deep networks that support revenue-generating services such as digital video services, video-on-demand (VOD), high-speed data and telephony,” said John Dahlquist, vice president of marketing at Aurora. “With the OP4528 Light-Plex, the costs associated with precisely setting the combined optical power levels of both the broadcast and the narrowcast wavelengths in Fiber Deep networks are eliminated. It is one more solution we developed using our deep knowledge of cable architectures and incorporating customer feedback to help MSOs compete in the triple-play services marketplace.”
Dahlquist told CED that Aurora focuses on technology, but also on the application of the technology, which makes the OP4528 Light-Plex extremely easy to install.
