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Palm size technology redefining high-speed communications
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| CrossFiber’s all-optical switch, fully connectorized and installed in a single 6” tall rack mountable tray | |
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| CF's all-optical switching demo | |
For Dr. Ned Davis the prospect of combining a career in engineering with living on Maui felt too good to pass up.
Today he finds himself at home in the labs of CrossFiber, a company that specializes in building optical networking equipment for high-speed communications networks.
Davis is the director of product development and manages daily operations at the Maui facility, which houses CrossFiber’s control circuitry and R&D initiatives. Since 2006 he and his team have been creating products that are designed to revolutionize the way high-speed networks function.
What’s the secret to their success? A family of all-optical switch modules, with broad applicability, that fit in the palm of your hand.
Current switch technology is bulky - modules stand several feet tall, and consume a lot of power, Ned explains. Additionally, typical optical switches are limited to moving light of a specific wavelength rather than a whole light beam, which limits their capability; those with increased capability tend to come with a significantly higher price tag.
What the CrossFiber team has done is create a module that stands in contrast to current products – it is low power, compact and offers increased capability, that is, it can move a whole light beam, says Davis. And, he is excited to say, the modules are priced at an affordable rate.
The technology is ready for the marketplace, and the company’s San Diego headquarters is poised to introduce it to industry. How will their product potentially play out in the market? It may mean, for instance, big changes in the telecommunications industry.
Solving the spaghetti wire phenomenon: The central offices of today’s telephone companies typically resemble a spaghetti-like mass of fiber optic cables. Over time it’s easy to lose track of connections, leading to many redundant and useless cables, and making repairs difficult, Davis says. With all-optical switch technology, fiber optic management is automated and human error is eliminated - all connections are tracked and repairs become simplified, ultimately allowing the same amount of fibers to better serve customers.
Traffic management: For the many telecommunications companies that serve primarily one location by day and another by night, an automated system using all-optical switches can act as a seamless traffic regulator. A good Illustration is a major metropolitan area where the highest fiber optic demand during the day may be in the city, while at night it may be the suburbs. With the automated system, fibers can be appropriately allocated and automatically switched to best serve either location.
Davis is particularly excited about future applications of switch technology at the “edge of the network.” By applying all-optical technology to systems far from the telephone company’s central office – at the edge of the network -- fiber optic cables can be managed remotely. Remote control management could mean the end of manual service repairs at night in a storm, and even solar powered control systems due to their low power consumption.
As Ned and his team push forward, bolstered by their excitement, it appears the days of the telephone operator and spaghetti-like wires are drawing to a close.
