Innovations and Disruptions: EXFO Unfurls “PON-aware” power meter for telecoms

EXFO Inc., the network test, monitoring and analytics enabler, has released the industry’s first PON-aware^TM passive optical network (PON) power meter for testing next-generation and legacy PON technologies.

The PPM-350D PON Power Meter automatically detects and adapts test parameters for the PON technology in use at the customer premises. These new capabilities eliminate costly guesswork by field technicians during the critical service activation phase.

Each home, school, business or other CSP customer has different requirements for the upstream and downstream speeds of broadband delivered over fiber, ranging from basic to ultra-fast. To provide the right speeds to the right customers, CSPs are deploying multiple PON technologies by overlaying multiple new wavelengths on existing fibers.

“With next-gen PON upgrades underway in every region, seamless upgrades require the overlaying of new wavelengths on existing fibers as operators combine existing PON with next-gen PON solutions,” said Julie Kunstler, Principal Analyst, Ovum’s Next-Gen Infrastructure Practice. “EXFO’s PON meter enables technicians to accurately test and thereby fix any customer connections during service activation for legacy and next-gen PON technologies such as GPON, EPON, XG-PON1, XGS-PON, 10G-EPON and NG-PON2, without needing to know an operator’s specific upgrade roadmap.”

“We developed the PON-aware power meter to tackle two key challenges for CSPs dealing with multiple legacy and next-gen technologies,” said Stéphane Chabot, EXFO's Vice President, Test and Measurement. “First, field technicians can’t fix problems that older power meters can’t see. Second, it can be difficult to select the right test parameters for the technology, which increases the risk of meaningless test results and false positives. By using automation to solve both problems, the PPM-350D helps CSPs avoid the high costs of sending tech teams back to fix problems for frustrated new customers.”