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Big Bear Networks Solves Optical Impairment for High Speed Transmission With Its EDC-Based Solutions

Posted on: Tuesday, 6 July 2004, 06:00 CDT

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Big Bear Networks, delivering intelligence into the Optical/Electrical interface for enterprise, metro and carrier networks, today announced a solution to the challenge of optical impairment in high-speed networks with its patented electronic dispersion compensation (EDC) technology and it has successfully delivered its products into multiple high-speed datacom and telecom markets.

During the last 24 months, Big Bear Networks has tightly integrated its patented EDC technology, called Photronic Signal Processing (PSP), with optical components to deliver the highest performance, cost-optimized modules for high speed network applications. At 10 Gigabit and higher transmission speeds, the bandwidth requirements in optical devices and limitations of the fiber channel have made it difficult to develop economically feasible modules that achieve system performance requirements.

Solving the OE interface issue with EDC and delivering the resulting performance benefits requires the tight coupling of three very different engineering disciplines; mixed-signal IC design, optical channel and component expertise, and a system integration team to bring together the complete solution. The absence of other EDC-based modules shipping in the market today attests to the difficult engineering challenge of developing such high-speed modules and sub-systems.

"Our talented engineering staff, which includes experts in mixed-signal IC design, optical components, and system integration, has successfully developed world class technology and products," said Mark Thompson, president and CEO of Big Bear Networks. "We have completed the development of our PSP technology, we've engineered it into market-leading products, and we've won significant customer business, shipping products into three application segments."

Big Bear Networks is currently shipping for revenue into three markets, with additional products planned for market introduction later this year. All of the products are based on Big Bear Networks' PSP technology:

-- Big Bear Networks is announcing 10GBASE-ZR XENPAK modules (see

separate news release, issued today), targeted at long-reach, single-

mode (80-120 km) 10G Ethernet metro applications. This is the first

single-mode 10G transponder on the market to incorporate EDC.

-- Big Bear Networks has successfully had its EDC-based ICs designed into

10G Telecom line cards, which resolve optical impairment issues over

single-mode fiber transmission links.

-- Big Bear Networks has also developed its 40/43G transponders, which

have been shipping for more than one year. The company supplies most

of the early adopter 40G transponder business, primarily with test

equipment manufacturers and Tier-1 system OEMs.

10G Ethernet Multi-Mode Fiber Coming in 2H '04

Big Bear Networks intends to deliver the first 10G Ethernet multi-mode fiber module, aligned to the IEEE draft standard -- targeting the high-volume enterprise switch-to-switch market applications. The bulk of fiber installed in the enterprise market is legacy-grade multi-mode, and the only current 10G solution is Coarse WDM interfaces (LX4), which has proven to be too expensive for enterprise applications.

About Big Bear Networks

Big Bear Networks is delivering a range of high-speed devices that bring intelligence to the optical/electrical interface. The company was founded in June 2000 and currently has more than 50 employees. Big Bear is located at 345 Potrero Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94085. For more information, call 408-524-5100 or visit Big Bear Networks web site at http://www.bigbearnetworks.com/ .

Big Bear Networks

CONTACT: Tim Helms of Helms Communications, +1-925-606-6936,timhelms@comcast.net , or John Jaeger of Big Bear Networks, +1-408-524-5129,jjaeger@bigbearnetworks.com

Web site: http://www.bigbearnetworks.com/

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