LaserWave(R) Flex Multimode Fiber from OFS Provides Bend-Optimized Performance for Data Centers, LANs

STURBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- OFS has introduced LaserWave® FLEX  multimode fiber, a bend-optimized 50 micron OM4/OM3 multimode fiber designed for use in data center, high performance computing, and enterprise LAN applications. The reduced bending loss exhibited by the fiber at a bend radius as low as 7.5 mm brings outstanding bend performance to OFS' industry-leading LaserWave 550/300 fibers.

OFS will exhibit the fiber at the BICSI Winter Conference held January 17th – 21st 2010 in Orlando, Florida (Booth 1106).

LaserWave FLEX fiber offers extremely low bending loss at both 850 nm and 1300 nm, including a maximum attenuation of 2.2 dB/km at the popular 850 nm operating window, the lowest loss for bend-optimized fibers on the market. The fiber can be installed in loops as small as 7.5 mm radius with less than 0.2 dB bending loss at 850 nm and 0.5 dB at 1300 nm, while maintaining excellent long term fiber strength and reliability.

Fully compatible with the installed base of multimode fiber, LaserWave FLEX fiber allows cabling systems providers to develop smaller, higher density fiber management systems for today's space-constrained environments, while simplifying jumper installation and routing. Its improved bend performance can guard against instances of higher loss caused by tight bends, thus helping to increase systems reliability and to maximize network uptime.

Because it meets or exceeds the requirements of the OM4/OM3 standards, LaserWave FLEX fiber extends the application of multimode fiber to support transmission at 10 Gb/s and future speeds such as 40 and 100 Gb/s. Using low cost 850 nm Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) transceivers, the fiber supports a wide variety of applications including 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel and InfiniBand.

Robust and easy to connectorize, LaserWave FLEX fiber promotes ease of installation even under the most stringent conditions. OFS protects the fibers with Flex-10® coating, a dual-layered acrylate coating system that provides the industry's best protection against water, temperature and humidity.

LaserWave FLEX fiber is manufactured at OFS' Multimode Center of Excellence in Sturbridge, Mass. using the company's advanced Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition (MCVD) technology. The MCVD process enables OFS to precisely control each fiber's index of refraction across the core, including the core's center region.

All products in the LaserWave fiber family meet and exceed the specification requirements of both the EMBc and the more discriminating DMD mask methods for verifying Effective Modal Bandwidth. Both techniques are recognized and approved industry standards; however the DMD mask method allows for closer scrutiny of fiber characteristics, enabling LaserWave fiber to be specified to more stringent DMD specifications than required by the standards.

LaserWave FLEX fiber is available from leading cablers, as well as in a select number of OFS cable and connectivity products.

About OFS

OFS is a world-leading designer, manufacturer and provider of optical fiber, optical fiber cable, FTTX, optical connectivity and specialty photonics products.  Our manufacturing and research divisions work together to provide innovative products and solutions that traverse many different applications as they link people and machines worldwide. Between continents, between cities, around neighborhoods, and into homes and businesses of digital consumers we provide the right optical fiber, optical cable and components for efficient, cost-effective transmission.

OFS' corporate lineage dates back to 1876 and included technology powerhouses such as AT&T and Lucent Technologies. Today, OFS is owned by Furukawa Electric, a multi-billion dollar global leader in optical communications. 

Headquartered in Norcross (near Atlanta) Georgia, U.S., OFS is a global provider with facilities in Avon, Connecticut; Carrollton, Georgia; Somerset, New Jersey; and Sturbridge, Massachusetts, as well as in Denmark, Germany and Russia.

For more information, please visit www.ofsoptics.com.

SOURCE OFS