Agilent Technologies Inc. has announced new optical switches that enable more cost-effective optical transceiver manufacturing tests and higher efficiency in optical component and cable verification. The Agilent N7731A dual 1x4 optical switch and the N7734A 1x13 optical switch are available for single-mode or multimode fiber-optic connections.

"Manufacturers of optical transmitters and receivers constantly strive for better yield and lower cost of test," said Mr Jurgen Beck, general manager of Agilent's digital photonic test products. "Our new optical switches help them achieve their goals by making accurate measurements and making automation easier with excellent repeatability, fast switching time and flexible control with LAN, USB and GPIB interfaces."

Key features and specifications include:

• Repeatability: ?0.01 dB, ?0.004 dB typical
• Switching time: < 20 ms
• Lifetime: > 1 billion cycles
• 816x VXI plug-and-play driver support
• N77xx viewer GUI

Designed for high test throughput, lowest cost per channel and narrow footprint, all members of Agilent's N77 Series optical test instruments are built on a common platform and provide a common PC-based user interface. A complete set of control interfaces (including LAN, USB2.0 and GPIB) simplifies integration with manufacturing control systems. Code-compatible with Agilent's Lightwave Measurement System modules, the new generation of switches can serve as plug-in replacements in existing test solutions.

(For further information contact: Agilent Technologies Inc Toll free - 1800-11-2929 . Email: tm_india@agilent.com)