Lambda Optical Systems announced the general availability of its products for the first time at the OFC/NFOEC show in Anahiem, Calif., this week after two years of operation as a company.

The LambdaNode 2000 "all-optical" switch uses 3D microelectrical mechanical systems (MEMS) combined and integrated with dense wavelength-division multiplexing and GMPLS to serve metro and regional networks whereas previous MEMS switches focused on long-haul and ultralong-haul applications. Each seven-foot chassis contains up to 256 bidirectional ports and can carry up to 2.5 Tb/s of traffic at a range of 1000 km between switches.

All-optical networks were conceived in part to help carriers avoid the expense of components that convert optical signals into electrical ones and back for the purpose of network management. A card within the LambdaNode converts up to 5% of all traffic into electrons to achieve network performance monitoring, but the system contains far fewer OEO components than traditional switches.

Equipment vendors using MEMS for all-optical switching met with very limited success during the telecom bubble. Although 3D MEMS technology has grown more reliable in recent years, Lambda Optical chief executive officer Irfan Ali said, the technology was not the main cause of vendors' past failures. "Those vendors were so focused on optical transport, they missed other issues," Ali said. "These networks are static. Adding a single wavelength is a huge undertaking. Networks are not just about bandwidth. They're about making bandwidth available easily in a managed fashion in real time."

Ali doesn't see much demand for the LambdaNode in the United States at the moment outside of research and education networks, despite the fact that ROADM technology, a subset of Lambda Optical's approach, has found a domestic audience.

"We can do everything a ROADM can do and more," Ali said.

The vendor is engaged in several trials in Europe, and it has a nearly $30-million, five year contract with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory that is set to expire in 2008. The NRL uses Lambda Optical's equipment to distribute satellite images in a terrestrial network.

Lambda Optical formed in March 2003 by buying the intellectual property of a previous startup, FirstWave Secure Intelligent Optical Networks.