EXFO and Telescent Partner to Bring Enhanced Diagnostics to Network Automation for Next-Generation Deployments

Physical layer automation fortified with diagnostic capabilities transforms network management, enabling seamless and efficient operations, saving time and money

IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Telescent, a leading manufacturer of automated fiber optic cross-connects for data centers, and EXFO, the communications industry’s test, monitoring and analytics experts, announce their partnership, adding EXFO diagnostic capabilities to Telescent’s Gen 4 Network Topology Manager (G4 NTM), an automated interconnect system that provides accurate and proactive monitoring of network infrastructure leveraging a remote-controlled, reconfigurable fiber optic patch-panel.

The combination of EXFO’s remote fiber testing and monitoring capabilities with Telescent’s physical network layer automation transforms the way companies manage, operate and maintain metro and long-haul network infrastructure. This partnership brings future-proof capabilities to new network deployments while providing revolutionary network upgrade solutions with a software-defined network (SDN) technology that transforms the way companies operate their network infrastructure, as exemplified by the recent announcement with MOX Networks in November 2022. In addition to network operators, data center operators are embracing Telescent’s capabilities by implementing a system of network topology managers to automate physical network configurations in data centers, as highlighted in Quantum Loophole’s announcement in October 2022.

“Combining EXFO’s market-leading technology solutions with Telescent’s industry-leading automatic connectivity platform empowers network operators to streamline operations with greater efficiency and accuracy for metro and long-haul connectivity,” said Mark Nixon, Senior Vice-President Adaptive Service Assurance at EXFO. “We are committed to transforming the way companies deploy network infrastructure – empowering the future of software-defined network automation – wherever networks are deployed.”

“With EXFO, Telescent is bringing even more network diagnostic solutions to our customers, further enhancing remote monitoring, management and enabling automatic cross connects to advance the way companies deploy and manage new network routes,” adds Anthony Kewitsch, CEO, Telescent. “It is exciting to be able to work with the best technology developers in the industry to bring the future of software-driven network management to our clients today.”

“As a company that builds, owns, operates and services dark fiber networks for large-scale bandwidth solutions, finding a vendor that streamlines the maintenance and upkeep of our deployments – while future-proofing our network – is of utmost importance,” comments Allen Meeks, Chief Operating Officer for MOX Networks. “With most long-haul networks largely built 15-20 years ago, the opportunity to deploy Telescent’s platform in our brand new network allows us to reconfigure all of our network infrastructure – on the fly. In addition, with in ground cables getting larger, a platform with a high port count patch panel is crucial. By deploying Telescent along with EXFO OTDRs, we are now able to test and monitor traces and power measurements, marry the information with historical data, and gain near exact visibility into the quality of our network and operations seamlessly and effectively.”

Telescent’s robotic patch panel system addresses the requirements for automating fiber management, while EXFO’s remote fiber testing system adds visibility of reconfigured optical circuits — closing the network automation loop and making diagnostics and proactive management easier than ever before. Telescent’s fiber-based system offers low loss, latched fiber connection that matches manual patch panel performance. When an add, move or drop is requested, the Telescent robot grabs one end of the fiber and weaves it around the other fibers in the system to the requested port, avoiding any blocking or knotting. This preserves the ability of the system to make any connection request (i.e. non-blocking) while scaling to over 1,000 duplex ports per system.

Test equipment such as power meters, visible and infrared light sources and optical time domain reflectometry can be included with the Telescent system to allow certification and monitoring of any fiber when requested. The Telescent system meets the reliability requirements for data centers and has passed NEBS Level 3 certification as well as multiple customer trials and has over 1 billion port hours in operation.

For more information about EXFO, visit www.exfo.com.

For more information about Telescent, visit www.telescent.com.

About Telescent

With a large-scale, low-loss, robotic patch-panel solution, Telescent Inc. brings automation to the fiber layer of optical networks. Telescent’s all-optical approach ensures optimal performance and reliability while enabling software control for remote reconfigurations and diagnostics. Companies can enjoy the advantages of automation with Telescent’s new RobUST^TM configuration combined with the option to add fiber ports on a pay-as-you-go basis as their automation requirements expand. Automation of the fiber layer can reduce operating expenses and manual errors while creating new service opportunities for multi-tenant data center operators, telecom service providers, and at hyperscale cloud data centers. To find out more about Telescent, including any recent product updates, please visit www.telescent.com.

About EXFO

EXFO develops smarter test, monitoring and analytics solutions for the global communications industry. We are trusted advisers to fixed and mobile network operators, hyper-scalers and leaders in the manufacturing, development and research sector. They count on us to deliver superior visibility and insights into network performance, service reliability and user experience. Building on over 35 years of innovation, EXFO’s unique blend of equipment, software and services enable faster, more confident transformations related to 5G, cloud-native and fiber optic networks.

Contacts

Ilissa Miller

iMiller Public Relations

Tel: 1.914.315.6424

Email: ql@imillerpr.com