Corvis to Acquire Algety Telecom, Extends Optical Networking Leadership

Corvis Corporation> (Columbia, MD) plans to acquire Algety Telecom (Lannion, France), a privately-held company that develops terabit capacity long-haul transmission systems for an undisclosed number of shares. The acquisition of the start-up soliton-based optical technology further extends Corvis' product offerings, delivering both terabit capacity and ultra-long reach capabilities.

Algety has developed soliton-based, dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) transmission systems that enable 40 Gbps, as well as 10 Gbps, transmission to be sent over long distances in a purely optical form, providing carriers significant cost advantages while increasing the efficiency and reliability of their networks. Algety holds the current record for a terrestrial soliton transmission of 1 terabit/second over a distance of 1000km—the equivalent of transmitting the entire contents of the Library of Congress in less than 30 seconds down a single fiber.

Solitons are specially shaped lightwave pulses that balance the effects of fiber dispersion and fiber non-linearity to allow higher bit rate transmission over longer distances than conventional systems. The Corvis suite of all-optical products provides end-to-end optical network solution, offering high-capacity, all-optical switching and transport with integrated network and bandwidth management required for next-generation, terabit IP networks. Corvis recently announced contract agreements with Broadwing Communications and Williams Communications for its suite of all-optical networking products.

Edited by Kristin Lewotsky, Photonics Online