The Lightwave Blog

Posted by Stephen Hardy

A year after debuting its "OTN in a module" concept at OFC/NFOEC 2008, Menara Networks plans to use this year's event to highlight its electronic dispersion compensation (EDC) technology, company founder, president, and CEO Siraj Nour ElAhmadi told me earlier this week.

ElAhmadi says that the company has garnered six design wins for its upcoming XFP device, which he expects will reach general availability in either the second or third quarter of this year. Like Menara Network's other 10G modules, the XFPs leverage the company's ASIC technology to incorporate the electronic functions required to support OTN capabilities within the transceiver, rather than on the board.

Menara Networks produces devices for both long-haul and short-reach applications. The long-haul market was the first target; the company successfully completed a 1300-km trial in Sweden, ElAhmadi says. However, the company also sees interest in its technology for intra-CO applications, which are normally dark spots for OTN-based network management. He sees a role for Menara Networks' technology for OTN-based service demarcation as well.

Both switch/router vendors and telecom equipment developers are working with the Menara Networks' modules, ElAhmadi reveals. The company also has seen interest from service providers, including cable companies, he adds.

In addition to fully implementing its EDC technology, Menara Networks also has full C-Band tunability on its development roadmap. ElAhmadi hopes to have both capabilities available sometime next year.

But perhaps the company's most noteworthy achievement was landing third-round funding last November. ElAhmadi terms the pursuit "extremely difficult -- we were lucky." He says this round should take the company through break even or cash positive.

Labels: Menara Networks, OFC