FTTx/Access Network Equipment

Fremco, a specialist in the design and production of fibre blowing machines, has introduced a fully automatic portable fibre blowing machine with a unique double-protection system for blown fibre units.

Typically, 10–15 per cent of blown fibres are scrapped during the installation process, which is expensive and time-consuming. With the new Fremco Nanoflow there will be considerably less damage and frustration when installing enhanced performance fibre units (EPFU), the company claims.

At its annual User Group Conference, Calix formally unveiled the AXOS E9-2 Intelligent Edge System, the system that was selected for NG-PON2 lab testing in Verizon’s Innovation Lab in Waltham, Massachusetts, earlier this year (see Verizon evaluates suppliers ahead of NG-PON2 deployment).

ViaLite Communications, a trading name of Pulse Power & Measurement, has expanded its ODE range of outdoor enclosures to include a new enclosure, the ODE-B 12.

The new ODE-B 12 has been designed to hold up to 12 VialiteHD RF over fibre links in module format, plus the SNMP monitoring module. This is twice as many as the standard ODE-B unit, which holds up to six.

Huawei used ANGA COM 2016 to launch what it claims is the industry's first 10Gb/s hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) access platform. The company says the platform is the first of its kind to support 10G DOCSIS 3.1 over cable as well as 10G-PON fibre-to-the-home (FTTH).

In addition, the company is showing a 10Gb/s DOCSIS 3.1 service demonstration at ANGA COM 2016 this week.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) has introduced the Flexible Access System Architecture (FASA) concept, which aims to provide greater flexibility in optical access equipment through the use of network functions virtualisation (NFV).

Instead of using purpose-built hardware, NTT has modularised the various functions of access equipment as much as possible. This is the first time that the modularisation concept has been applied to access equipment, the Japanese company asserts.

New optical platforms from Nokia Networks will make mobile fronthaul more cost-effective and simple to deploy, enabling operators to implement large-scale centralised radio access network (C-RAN) deployments, the company claims.

3M has launched its latest generation of BPEO splice closures for fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) distribution networks. (BPEO is an abbreviation of boite protection environmental optique, a name that has been known within the industry for more than a decade.)

Providing fast and consistent quality of installation, the new BPEO product family aims to bring FTTH network cabling projects within reach of a far wider range of suppliers, without needing to always depend on highly qualified fibre-optic engineers.

Semiconductor company Broadcom has released a DOCSIS-compatible 10G Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) residential gateway reference design.

Broadcom's new design allows cable multiple system operators (MSOs) to provide multi-gigabit speeds for home subscribers' high-speed video and Internet services via a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network. The new integrated platform enables MSOs to quickly provide multi-gigabit speeds to their subscribers without expensive upgrades.

Calix has announced new cards for its E-Series portfolio that introduce both increased systems capacity and ITU/FSAN standards-based NG-PON2 support with both fixed and tunable wavelengths.

NG-PON2, which is based on time- and wavelength-division multiplexed (TWDM) PON, offers up to four wavelengths at 10Gb/s each – four times as much capacity as present 10G-PON systems.

Broadband equipment developer Calix has announced a trio of new products that will use standards-based G.fast technology to bring a gigabit experience to subscribers located in multi-dwelling unit (MDU), mixed use buildings and other high-density dwellings. These new products are the E3-16F sealed distribution point unit (SDPU) node, the 870F MDU services delivery node, and the 844F GigaCenter.