This press release is copyrighted by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE). Its use is granted only to journalists and news media. Embargo date: 26 January 2002, 5:00 p.m. ET.
Imagine a TV set that receives only a single channel. If you were sitting in front of it and wanted to watch a program on another channel, you'd have to put the set away and take a different one out of the closet or go to another room where a different one was set up, or do something equally inconvenient.
Something similar is true of fiber-optic communications systems. They owe part of their highly touted ability to carry enormous amounts of information to the fact that they carry multiple information channels, each on a different wavelength, or color, of light. Each wavelength requires its own laser, and that laser cannot be interchanged with the lasers used by other channels. So maintaining an inventory of spare parts is a headache--much as if an automobile needed four spare tires because they were not interchangeable.
Tunable lasers solve that problem. But what makes them really exciting is that they make possible new bandwidth-on-demand services. By allowing network operators to reconfigure their networks in real time, tunable lasers will make it possible to have real broadband--that is, high-quality video teleconferences whenever they are needed, with only a few minutes notice. Today, the only way to get that kind of service is to get (and pay for) a permanent broadband connection.
Contact: Michael J. Riezenman, 212 419 7558, [email protected].For a faxed copy of the complete article ("Tunable Lasers" by Elizabeth Bruce, IEEE Spectrum, February 2002, pp. 37-39) or to arrange an interview, contact: Nancy T. Hantman, 212 419 7561, [email protected].
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