Press Releases

7 March 2006

Circadiant Releases Industry’s First 10 Gigabit Ethernet Long Reach Multimode (LRM) Test System

New Hydra Modular Test System automates IEEE 802.3aq LRM compliance testing

Allentown, PA - Circadiant Systems, Inc., the real-world optical testing company, today announced the release of its Hydra Modular Test System - the industry’s first commercially available 10 Gigabit Ethernet LRM (Long Reach Multimode) compliance test system. Hydra is a comprehensive test system that enables quick, easy and accurate compliance testing of 10 Gigabit components (such as electronic dispersion compensators), devices and systems per the IEEE 802.3aq draft standard. The all-in-one solution solves the issues of calibration, instrument drift, and system-to-system correlation. 

The LRM interface, defined in the latest 802.3aq draft standard, was conceived to allow 10 Gigabit Ethernet transmissions over the existing FDDI multimode fiber that populates most corporate complexes, and accounts for over 60% of the installed fiber. To ensure reliable transmission, with up to 220 meters of varying degrees of installed fiber quality, the IEEE Standard requires Ethernet component and system manufacturers to make complex optical transmitter and receiver performance measurements. Compliance to the Standard is critical to maintain the Ethernet “plug and play” architecture and to assure high-quality transmission over legacy fibers. Circadiant’s new Hydra Modular Test System makes critical Ethernet LRM compliance testing fast and easy.

Hydra tests all physical layer aspects of the 802.3aq LRM Standard, including Stressed Receiver Sensitivity (SRS) and Transmitter Waveform Dispersion Penalty (TWDP). Hydra generates standard compliant stressors to mimic worst-case optical degradations while automatically measuring receiver bit error ratio performance as a function of output power. Hydra also automates TWDP testing through an external high-speed sampling scope for the transmitter portion of the standard.  Hydra makes accurate LRM compliance testing fast and easy by combining receiver and transmitter test functions.

“Vendors are in a race to introduce their first LRM compliant devices. With over 60% of the installed fiber being multimode and the large push for increasing bandwidth in the enterprise networks, the market potential is huge for the component, module, and system manufacturers,” said My Chung, Circadiant’s president and CEO. “With Circadiant providing the test system, customers will be able to focus full time on their product development and achieve faster time-to-market.”

About Circadiant Systems, Inc.
Led by test industry veterans and staffed by a team of distinguished physicists and engineers, Circadiant is a privately-held company based in Allentown, PA. The company provides optical component developers, network equipment manufacturers, and telecom service providers with award-winning test systems.  Circadiant’s Optical Standards Testers generate real-world optical test signals that greatly improve network reliability and interoperability. Circadiant received venture funding from EnerTech Capital, Intel Capital, PA Early Stage, and TL Ventures.

Media Contacts:

John French
Circadiant Systems, Inc.
610.871.0500 x101