Lucent Technologies Unveils High-Capacity All-Optical Router

MURRAY HILL, N.J., Nov. 11 -- Lucent Technologies has introduced a high-capacity, all-optical router that the company calls a breakthrough in the industry, capable of boosting the capacity of long-distance networks to 10 Tb/s, up to 10 times current Internet speeds. The WaveStar LambdaRouter employs Bell Labs technology by utilizing a series of microscopic mirrors to direct and route optical signals from fiber to fiber across the network, eliminating the need to first convert the signals to electrical form. Lucent said this eradication of electrical bottlenecks would save service providers up to 25 percent in operational costs and allow them to direct network traffic 16 times faster than possible with electrical switches.
Lucent stated that the new router would enable communications network providers to offer customers instant Internet programming as well as other high-speed video and data services. In addition, the company said the 10-Tb LambdaRouter would help carriers to increase revenue by allowing them to sell and manage network capacity down to the level of individual optical wavelengths. Lucent expects to release the WaveStar LambdaRouter to select customers in July 2000, with a full commercial rollout scheduled for December 2000.