August 24, 2009 -- OFS has agreed to license its U.S. Patent No. 6,131,415 and its foreign counterparts to Japan's Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. (Tokyo). The patent relates to the method of manufacture of preforms with a soot based core rod, such as Vapor Axial Deposition (VAD) and synthetic overclad cylinder glass, to provide low water peak fiber performance. The patented preform process is used to manufacture OFS's AllWave ZWP fibers, which, according to the company, exceed the industry's most stringent and comprehensive table of specifications for standard singlemode fiber, ITU-T G.652.D.
According to OFS, the full-spectrum capability of low-water-peak fiber allows system designers using fiber made from the associated preform to support systems that leverage the E-band (1360-1460 nanometer) transmission window. Access to the E-band window increases usable capacity by 50% and allows for application of dense WDM (DWDM) or coarse WDM (CWDM) across the spectrum.
OFS maintains that carriers today globally recognize the increased network capability and opportunity for return on investment that comes with specifying to this high standard. OFS, through its Lucent-AT&T-Bell Labs heritage, cites itself as a pioneer in this technology and among the first to introduce this fiber and associated preform technology.
The fiber-optic companies say the agreement between them demonstrates the critical importance of low-water-peak fibers. Further, the agreement supports the performance and cost-competitiveness of the pure synthetic hybrid VAD/cylinder preform technology employed by OFS, maintains that company.
The licensed technology allows Shin-Etsu to quickly expand the existing capability of the preform production facilities at its Kashima Plant, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. By leveraging VAD core capacity from Kashima with existing synthetic overclad cylinder glass capability, Shin-Etsu expects that it will be positioned to cost effectively address continued strong demand for low water peak preforms in the Asia Pacific region.
On the Web:
www.ofsoptics.com
www.ofsinnovations.com
www.shinetsu.co.jp