IMC Networks' new fiber converter offers optical power monitoring capabilities through bundled software which is compatible with Windows, HP OpenView, Solaris, and HP-UX.

by Wayne Kawamoto [June 27, 2002]

IMC Networks, a manufacturer of optical networking and bandwidth management solutions for local, wide and metropolitan area networks, announced its new 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet fiber converter, which has the ability to set a threshold and monitor optical power levels across "first mile" installations.

According to the company, fiber converters are emerging as cost-effective building blocks for Ethernet-based optical networks. And with the new iMcV-FM-LIM series fiber converters, service providers should be able to provide complete management and control of fiber up to a customer's doorstep.

The iMcV-FM-LIM series is designed to comply with IEEE 802.3 100Base-TX and 100Base-FX Fast Ethernet standards and support single-mode optical circuits up to 15 kilometers. The modular iMcV-FM-LIM should readily install in IMC Networks' iMcV Series Chassis or the iMediaCenter Series Chassis.

The iMediaCenter Series Chassis is designed to provide an embedded SNMP management agent and enable network managers to monitor copper and fiber link status as well as chassis environmental statistics, including temperature and voltage level. The iMediaCenter Series Chassis are available in 2-, 8- and high-density 18-slot configurations to meet most installation requirements.

The company says that configuring the iMcV-FM-LIM is easy. An SNMP trap can be set to alarm management if the fiber receive or transmit power levels fall below a user-defined threshold. And SNMP traps may be quickly set using IMC Networks' GUI-based SNMP management software, iView, which is included with iMediaCenter. iView runs standalone on Windows NT4/95/98/2000, or as a plug-in to HP OpenView on Windows NT, Solaris and HP-UX network operating systems.

According to the company, the ability to monitor optical signal quality is of critical importance to customers that rely on single-mode fiber links, especially when renting fiber from CATV, utilities, etc. As time passes, the strength of a light signal degrades, due to contamination as well as general cable and transmitter degradation. Leased third-party fiber may be re-patched (either increasing or reducing the strength of the received light), or the owner of the fiber may create other light channels within the fiber by using OADM (Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers), which may accommodate more data traffic on the same fiber strand.

Furthermore, being able to monitor the receive strength of the light at the central office, and additionally create high/low thresholds for the quality of the light received should allow a user of fiber monitoring equipment to quickly identify if optical quality is affecting a link. All this may be done via the SNMP-based GUI, which can eliminate the need to send a technician to qualify the optical link.

"The new iMcV-FM-LIM series is ideal for provisioning MAN access and data transport services where guaranteeing the consistency of services is essential," said Michael Dailey, president and chief executive officer of IMC Networks. "Especially in situations where a service provider is leasing the fiber from a third party, integrated optical power monitoring enables them to react to any changes in optical power levels. Operators of metropolitan fiber networks gain the peace of mind from the ongoing monitoring of the signal integrity, enabling them to meet their service level agreements."

Availability and pricing
Available during Q3, iMcV-FM-LIM carries a list price of $810.

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