At the 2022 OFC Conference and Exhibition (Mar. 6-10) in San Diego, Go!Foton, a provider of optical components and connectivity systems for carriers and data centers, confirmed that the first phase of its EKO operating platform for intelligent management of optical networks has been certified by multiple ITLs and is now available for immediate pre-order.
Anchored by the company’s award-winning PEACOC spreadable adapter technology and incorporating its patented connector-plug detection process, the A.I.-capable EKO platform is the tangible result of Go!Foton’s "comprehensive re-thinking of optical network management," the company said in a statement. "Software-agnostic, non-disruptive to service, and compatible with off-the-shelf hardware," the company said the EKO platform provides real-time monitoring for all network connectivity assets, including fiber, connectors, cabling, and passive equipment.
Go!Foton contends the EKO platform "embodies a compelling and thoroughly original solution for a myriad of infrastructure challenges faced by today’s optical network managers [including]: intermingled legacy networks; incomplete tracking of fiber facilities; difficulty quickly locating connector-mating issues; fragmented or non-existent signal strength monitoring; sporadic access to customer equipment; and Tx/Rx sensitivity issues."
“We built EKO to help wireless operators, wireline operators, and data centers satisfy ever-increasing performance standards while meeting the challenges posed by the rapid densification of optical fiber and the issues that poses for DWDM,” explained Go!Foton CTO Dr. David Z. Chen. “EKO affords total fiber visibility (TFV) at construction layers-0/1 as well as always-ready power level monitoring and furnishes network managers with real-time operating exception notifications.”
Dr. Chen continued: “EKO’s basic functions and features allow operators to create their own Cloud On The Ground enabling them to see continuously into the entire optical network - including any buried cable and aerial cable infrastructures - for network management and A.I.-driven data-gathering and analytics. In addition, with its integrated non-intrusive out-of-band fiber line quality testing and reporting, EKO supports dynamically configurable environment-related surveillance. It’s the complete monitoring platform demanded by today’s growing optical networks.”
In conjunction with the announcement of general availability for EKO, Go!Foton also disclosed that it has completed the development of EKO-OTDR, a network application to be staged from the EKO system and powered by a minimum of two optical time domain reflectometers, one at each end of the fiber link. EKO-OTDR allows network managers to establish and configure powerful and flexible control planes for both inside plant and outside plant network end devices, connections, and fiber.
“With its advanced capability for monitoring both dark fiber and traffic-signal activated fiber, EKO-OTDR stakes out new territory in intelligent optical networking,” said Ed Jack, Go!Foton’s Director Of Fiber Network Intelligence. “Carriers and data centers have long been able to examine optical traffic using end-equipment features and functions. Now, powered by Go!Foton’s industry-best photodiode technology and leveraging proven standalone OTDR with implementation of OTDR pairs or even multiple units, EKO-OTDR delivers even further on EKO’s promise of granular real-time network visibility by extending active surveillance and analytics to connectors, terminations, and optical cables both lit and dark, wherever they may be located.”
Go!Foton will be presenting an interactive demonstration of EKO and EKO-OTDR at its Booth #3714 at the 2022 Optical Fiber Conference (OFC), taking place through March 10 at the San Diego Convention Center.