Fiber-Optic Modem Chips Serve Fiber-In-The-Loop Designs

This four-channel modem chipset is designed to provide full-duplex operation using a single wavelength of light over a single fiber-optic cable. The ACS406 two-chip modem is intended for "last-mile" fiber-in-the-loop applications, such as for interconnecting industrial parks, campuses, cellular base stations, and homes. The chips take advantage of the firm's proprietary implementation of Ping-Pong time division duplexing.The chips feature independent clock domains that allow users to combine up to four T1 or E1 lines while transmitting the concentrated data stream over a fiber cable up to 25 km long. One, two or four T1 or E1 channels can be configured for an aggregate bandwidth of up to 8.448 Mbps. Four additional support channels configurable for per-channel framing or as a single 64-kbps management channel are also provided.