BALTIMORE, Mar. 6, 2000 -- Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, today announced that the 128-channel Dense Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (DWDM) system from Cisco's Optical Networking Group has been selected as a Technology Award Winner by Fiberoptic Product News magazine.
The award-winning ONS 15800 DWDM system made its debut in Fiberoptic Product News as the Wavemux(tm) platform from Pirelli's Optical Systems Division, which is now the Photonics Business Unit of Cisco's Optical Networking Group. Cisco completed the acquisition of the Pirelli division in mid-February.
The magazine chose 11 award winners from approximately 1,000 new products featured in Fiberoptic Product News throughout the year. "Recognition by the readers of Fiberoptic Product News and its editorial advisory board is certainly auspicious," said Geriant Anderson, Vice President and General Manager of Cisco's Photonics Business Unit. "Likewise, our DWDM system has proven itself in the field as a cost-effective and reliable way for network providers to address today's demands for high-capacity communications transmission systems."
The magazine's three-part award selection process began by narrowing the field of products from 1,000 to approximately 50 entries. The initial selection was based on the number of reader inquiries each product generated during the year. The magazine's editorial staff then narrowed the number of award candidates to 21, voting by the magazine's readership and its editorial advisory board determined the final winners. The award will be presented to Cisco's Photonics Business Unit at a luncheon on March 6, 2000, during the Optical Fiber Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.
Dense Wavelength-Division Multiplexing is a technology in which information-carrying waves of light are divided into multiple channels, each carrying its own stream of information. Communications network providers deploy DWDM systems as an economical means of expanding the capacity of existing fiber optic networks.
The Cisco DWDM platform can support up to 128 channels and reach 1.28 terabits per second of transmission capacity. It can be installed as a one-channel system and upgraded incrementally to its full capacity of 128 channels, giving the system a low lifecycle cost and virtually future-proof capacity.
The system includes an optical protection feature to help assure quality of service and it has demonstrated its functionality and flexibility with a range of fiber types and channel combinations, which is a critical issue for today's network providers.
