"Nothing but Light", Gary Stix, Scientific America, December 1998, p. 17.

Ciena, a Maryland based optical network equipment manufacturer, recently shipped their 128 wavelength

multiplexer. The new multiplexer will allow telecommunication giants like Sprint to increase bandwidth on their cross

continental backbone networks by 40% without adding more fiber. The new technology called dense wavelength

division multiplexers (DWDM),m sends laser light down a single optical fiber at different wavelengths. Components

of the transmission system in the path of the fiber reflect individual wavelengths divert the individual wavelength on

and off of the high speed backbone. Ciena and Bell Laboratories are researching multiplexers that can handle up to

1000 wavelength and will attempt to break the 1 terabit per second bandwidth barrier. That's fast!

Mike Howell

Source: Gary Stix, "Nothing but Light", Scientific America, December 1998, p. 17.