Olympus, Movaz Team to Make MEMS

Olympus Corp. of Tokyo and Atlanta-based Movaz Networks Inc. today announced the creation of a joint venture company, Olympus Microsystems America Inc., to provide microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based technologies and products for optical equipment suppliers worldwide.

The companies said that combining Movaz Internet protocol and engineering resources with Olympus' MEMS foundry services and optical technology will bring the goal of creating all-optical networks closer to fruition for providers and result in a new company expected to generate gross sales of 6 billion Japanese yen (approximately $60 million) within five years.

Olympus Microsystems America Inc. will be based in San Jose, Calif., with Olympus Partnership Development Group Vice President Lawrence Wang serving as president of the new company. The Advanced Optical Technology team of Movaz's research and development engineers will work with the staff of the Olympus Partnership Development Group in conjunction with the technical and production resources of Olympus in Tokyo to further expand the portfolio of products using MEMS and free space optical technologies, the companies said.

The first jointly developed product, a MEMS-based wavelength selective switch for reconfigurable optical add/drop modules (ROADM), has been deployed since last August in Movaz's multidegree Ray ROADM network to provide extended reach to key government and university sites, including the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Mid-Atlantic Crossroads and the National Lambda Rail. The companies said Olympus Microsystems America will also develop business for new products, technology and markets with a focus on MEMS-based activities including ROADM products, variable optical attenuators, small switches, optical cross-connects, aspheric lenses and tunable filters.

Olympus Microsystems America will deliver the necessary cornerstone ROADM module as a highly integrated package of optics, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and MEMS in a compact form fit that can finally be economically deployed, the companies said.

"The extensive investment that Olympus is making in Movaz's patented optical switching technologies is a tremendous validation of the values that this technology can realize towards establishing a truly all-optical network," said Bijan Khosravi, chairman and CEO, Movaz Networks. "The ability to reconfigure network resources to make services instantaneously available has been desired by providers for the last decade."

For more information, visit www.olympusmicrosystems.com