EXFO Releases FTB-5240BP Optical Spectrum Analyzer

December 1, 2009 - EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering Inc. has released the FTB-5240BP field optical spectrum analyzer (OSA) designed to facilitate challenging network commissioning, upgrade, and troubleshooting for carriers and network equipment manufacturers (NEMs).

EXFO's latest tool boasts high resolution and allows field crews to analyze the spectral content of any modulation format, measure the optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) between ultradense signals, track nonlinear effects, and monitor component imperfections. The versatility of the FTB-5240BP equips them to commission challenging networks -- even ultradense wavelength-division multiplexing (UDWDM) networks with extremely limited spacing of 25 GHz and 12.5 GHz -- for in-depth characterization and troubleshooting.

Housed in the FTB-500 platform, the FTB-5240BP performs in-band OSNR measurements for systems where noise fluctuates from channel to channel, which is necessary for ROADM and 40G testing in next-generation networks.

"With the number of high-speed network deployments on the rise, carriers and NEMs are looking for high performance test equipment to increase their testing efficiency," claims Étienne Gagnon, EXFO's vice president of product management and marketing. "EXFO has designed an instrument that meets their needs. Boasting the best optical resolution in the industry, this new OSA can see things that are usually missed by a standard OSA, plus it can execute a single scan in less than one second and a true in-band OSNR measurement in less than one minute, for optimal efficiency."