By Richard Acello
Small Times Correspondent
Oct. 2, 2001 — OMM Inc.’s introduction of its 32X32 switch module is being viewed as a sign of forward momentum, both for the San Diego-based supplier of photonic switching modules and the MEMS industry as a whole.
The new module can optically switch any of 32 input ports to any of 32 output ports, while reducing overall costs by more than 70 percent over conventional electrical switching, says the company. But analysts indicate that the new product introduction is especially
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| OMM’s 8X8 switch module, at left, and its new 32×32 module, at right. Despite the telecom slowdown, companies developing optical products face an “important time in showing they can bring technology to the marketplace,” said an analyst. |
“Anything they do bears watching, because they’re typically in the forefront of innovation,” said Lawrence Gasman, president of Communications Industry Researchers, based in Charlottesville, Va. Gasman said OMM’s intro of the 32X32 model represents a “culmination of 2D technology. It’s significant, because (with it) you can build a relatively large optical system using conventional technology, which is a plus and not a minus.”
In fact, OMM has scrapped development of its next generation switching components, called 3D, to concentrate on expanding its current technology. Conrad Burke, OMM’s senior vice president of marketing and business development, said that the new module, roughly the size of a videocassette, is “part of our road map and no surprise to customers” but represents a leap forward, since it uses less than a half a watt of power and reduces other costs to telecom equipment manufacturers.
“When you talk about the next generation equipment, you’re looking at switches that go into thousands of ports and we didn’t see that as a rapidly developing market,” Burke said.
MEMS-based all-optical switches route photons from one fiber-optic cable to another by steering light through a lens, reflecting it off a movable mirror and redirecting the light back into any one of a number of output ports — in OMM’s new product, 32 of them.
In a 2-D approach, the micro-mirrors and fibers are arranged in a planar fashion, and the mirrors can only be on or off at any time. In a 3D approach, two arrays of mirrors are used, with each mirror having many possible positions.
Of course, technological innovators depend on equipment manufacturers upgrading their systems, and that depends on the appetites of telecom carriers that are also tightening their belts at the moment.
“Given the context of the technology and the market, the module introduction shows that despite their troubles, OMM is moving forward,” said Marlene Bourne, senior analyst for Cahners In-Stat. “They’re leading the charge for the industry, bearing the brunt, good and bad, about the technology and its feasibility.”
Despite the telecom slowdown, Bourne said companies developing optical products face an “important time in showing they can bring technology to the marketplace.
“There’s a market, no doubt,” said Bourne. “But 48 companies say they are going to compete in the MEMS space. Eventually, though, will it be six or 12 or 18 companies?” she asked.
A global recession could further impact telecom innovation, said Bourne, and that could impact the MEMS market, but Bourne said many MEMS companies are still only guiding products through development stages.
Burke said OMM is still interested in tapping public markets, but added, “We’re realists. The industry is going through a correction. But we believe that companies with strong venture backing and cutting edge technology will succeed.”
OMM has raised more than $100 million in funding to date, with venture capital firms, including Sevin Rosen Funds and Atlas Ventures, supplying about half. The rest, said Burke, has come from a variety of telecom companies, including Siemens and Alcatel, among others.