Apr 8 2009
Advanced Photonix, Inc.(R) (NYSE Amex: API) through its subsidiary, Picometrix, LLC, today announced that it is a supporting member of the Georgia Institute of Technology 100G Optical Networking Consortium. In total, more than $2.2 million in support has been designated for this facility by the consortium's founding research members: ADVA Optical Networking, Ciena, OFS, and Verizon - and by supporting members Avanex, IBM, Narda Microwave East, Nistica, Picometrix, and RSoft Design Group.
The consortium will conduct research including 100G fundamental transmission studies and component assessments for high-speed network infrastructure. The facility will utilize industry personnel's complementary capabilities to support the facility and to conduct the research. A variety of network architectures will be studied in support of the upcoming IEEE 100G standards.
API, through its subsidiary, Picometrix, is a recognized leader in state-of-the-art 40G high-speed optical receivers and this announcement demonstrates the Company's commitment to maintaining and expanding its industry leadership by advancing the technology.
One major benefit of the consortium includes having industry leaders working together to support standards that may be implementable over the existing fiber infrastructure, leading to faster deployment of the new technology.
"This consortium is an excellent example of the industry and university collaboration necessary to develop and test the next generation component technologies that will enable 100G optical transport on both the line side and client side," stated Robin Risser, president and general manager of Picometrix. "Close collaboration with consortium members will help accelerate our development and deployment of advanced 100G optical receivers."
"Being a member of this consortium is just one of the many ways we are establishing our leadership role in 100G adoption. We are also a principle member of the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF), which promotes the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services and provides feedback to worldwide standards organizations," commented Richard (Rick) Kurtz, CEO of API. "We are utilizing our existing customers, strategic standards involvement and a successful OFC/NFOEC conference to provide the right products at the right time for the 100G market."