Go!Foton, Inc., a specialist in optical components and connectivity solutions for fiber-optic communications, announced the launch of its EKO platform for AI-capable intelligent management of optical networks. Go!Foton made the product announcement at this week's OFC 2020 expo in San Diego, CA.
Incorporating several key Go!Foton innovations including the company’s patented PEACOC spreadable adapter technology and its newly developed on-axial ferrule engagement-sensing mechanisms, according to the company, "the EKO platform represents a comprehensive re-imagining of network architecture that is designed to help wireless and wireline operators satisfy ever-increasing performance standards, while addressing the relentless challenge of fiber densification."
Among its primary benefits, the EKO platform "offers total fiber visibility at the most fundamental layers 0/1 of the physical network infrastructure as well as continuous monitoring of optical power levels with real-time exception alerts," says Go!Foton. The EKO system also supports environment-related surveillance enabled by its integrated and non-intrusive out-of-band fiber line quality testing and reporting capability.
“By making the outside plant (OSP) completely visible with out-of-band collection, reporting, and notification, EKO offers network operators the ability to evolve successfully in the face of constantly growing demands for higher throughput, reduced delays, and minimized downtime,” commented Go!Foton CTO Dr. David Z Chen.
Chen added, “Tomorrow’s applications, including so-called 'presence' and tactile apps like remote surgery and virtual reality, will depend greatly on the achievement of unprecedented network performance. EKO will allow networks to attain the required bandwidth, reliability, and latency benchmarks as they scale with densification.”
Chen said the company expects to begin shipping the platform in early summer of this year and continued, “We are very excited about this novel architectural framework and its potential to deliver vast improvements in network operation, maintenance, and planning. As we move forward with field trials in the coming weeks, Go!Foton welcomes opportunities to partner with our industry colleagues in implementing the EKO-powered network of the future.”
Key EKO platform features, according to the company, include: port engagement sensing; bi-directional power measurement; data collection for OSP optical network path, capacity, and IL/RL; network environment surveillance (optional); unit orientation; door open/close status; humidity level and insect intrusion detection; low power indicator; and a speaker function for local and remote usage.
A summary of the EKO platform's key benefits, according to the company, includes:
-- Provides unique individual strand live detail—Total Fiber Visibility at Layer 0 construction level.
-- Supports network planning: fiber routes, protection, dynamic re-routing, expansion.
-- Facilitates mesh/ring/fractal network consolidation for wireless/wireline one-fiber ODN.
-- Reports to cloud via 4G IoT—out-of-band, not reliant on fiber.
-- Reduces guesswork--fewer truck rolls, lower cost.
-- Delivers exception alerts in real-time.
-- Enables Layer-3 and above smart switching for latency optimization (FUTURE).
Learn more at www.GoFoton.com.