Menara Networks, an optical networking specialist, today introduced a breakthrough in transceiver design—its flagship portfolio of innovative, impairments-tolerant optical transceiver products, featuring the industry’s first MSA compliant XFP, XENPAK and 300-pin DWDM 10 Gbps pluggable transceivers with integrated G.709 OTN and Forward Error Correction functionalities. Leveraging the company’s proprietary design, Menara’s commercially available products greatly simplify today’s layered optical transport networks while addressing the efficient transport of IP and Ethernet services. The company also announced revenue in 2007.
Menara multi-rate and protocol agnostic products are a result of the company’s proprietary high-speed ICs, expertise in DWDM system design and in-depth knowledge of optical networking. The result of OTN integration is a simplified, Ethernet/IP optimized transport network with superior performance and fewer network elements, which translates into a significant reduction in the network cost, simplified network engineering rules and faster service velocity for service providers. Menara Networks will demonstrate its technology in Booth # 412 at OFC/NFOEC 2008, being held February 26-28, at the San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, California.
“We are excited to introduce Menara Networks and our unique approach to cost-effective, simplified OTN transport to the industry,” said Siraj Nour El-Ahmadi, Menara co-founder and CEO. “Our MSA compliant products enable our OEM customers to provide state-of-the-art transport capabilities in a very expeditious manner and focus their valuable R&D dollars and resources on enhancing their systems’ offering at layer 2 and above as required by their customers.”
Menara’s products have achieved an unparalleled level of integration thanks to numerous innovations at the components and system level according to Salam El-Ahmadi, Menara co-founder, CTO and VP of Advanced Technologies. “These innovations have enabled us to build a significant IP portfolio. Our world-class multidisciplinary team has delivered on our vision by offering, and even enhancing, all the transport functions found in traditional transport systems into small form-factor pluggable transceivers.”
“Menara’s unique approach of DWDM OTN transport integration, at the pluggable transceiver level, is the right solution for seamlessly offering high performance transport capabilities and reducing the cost of deploying unified MPLS/GMPLS controlled networks,” said Opher Kahane, senior vice president and head of the High-end Systems Business Unit, Juniper Networks. “Menara Networks innovative transceivers will be beneficial for all service providers and network operators.”
“Eliminating network elements and simplifying the underlying architecture has tremendous advantages to network operators,” said Eve Griliches, IDC program director for Telecommunications Equipment. “Menara’s integration of ITU-T OTN into their MSA pluggables extends the advantage of the OTN core transport to IP/Ethernet switches and routers, and to customer premise equipment as well. This integration has the potential to significantly impact the overall cost of next generation network deployments.”
Since its founding in 2004, the company has assembled a solid management team with diverse and highly specialized skills in high speed mixed-signal IC design, optical networking and DWDM system design.
About Menara Networks
Menara Networks develops innovative products and solutions that greatly simplify today’s layered optical transport networks. Leveraging the company’s proprietary high speed ICs and its extensive expertise in optical networking and system design, Menara products provide optical networks with superior performance and improved service velocity while reducing network elements and overall network cost. Menara’s MSA-compliant transceivers with integrated ITU-T G.709 OTN enable OEM customers to seamlessly and rapidly unlock the potential of their platforms by offering unique opportunities for expanded addressable markets and faster revenues. The Company is funded by Sigma Partners, Spark Capital, Applied Ventures (Applied Materials venture capital arm) and Concept Ventures. Menara is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and has an IC design center in Irvine, California. For more information, visit www.menaranet.com.