RFOptic Newsletter July 2021

Welcome to our second newsletter of 2021. It has been a busy H1 for RFOptic, with launching new products and onboarding new customers. Our solutions keep gaining more and more recognition in the market, not in the least due to the efforts of our distributors. In this newsletter, we put the spotlight on two: Summit CSC in the USA and Municom in Central Europe.

Central in this newsletter is our progress in the rapidly-growing 5G market. We are proud to announce that we have received our first 5G orders from two Fortune 500 companies and are in advanced talks with several other enterprises.

We will start this newsletter with a product announcement; we have launched our integrated local and remote management & monitoring systems software. This unique software can manage, monitor, and control RFoF converters of all types as well as ODLs both locally and remotely.

Enjoy your read,

your RFOptic team.

New! RFOptic’s integrated monitoring & control System

RFOptic has launched its integrated remote monitoring & Control M&C system. This upgraded software can manage, monitor, and control RFoF converters of all types as well as ODLs. Its control and monitor capabilities enable:

  • Special control and monitoring 5G test systems;
  • Lower daily maintenance costs;
  • Maintenance personnel performing diagnostic tests and calibration in the field without special test equipment;
  • Detecting faults and problems in the optical and RF domains;
  • Making all management systems user-friendly, intuitive, and easy to operate;
  • Integration into customer systems with multiple API protocols.

Additional information can be found in the help files of the management software. The system provides many features, including accessibility from many web browsers, cellphone web access, alerts, event logs, and much more. It enables changes to operating parameters and provides a detailed status of the RFoF components.

For more information, visit our webpage or download the datasheet.  For the infographic, click here.

RFOptic has received 5G orders from two Fortune 500 companies

As mentioned in our previous newsletter, RFOptic has been investing major efforts to address the evolving 5G and 6G markets. Given that RF cables and RF switches are known to perform poorly at high 5G frequency bands, engineers are looking for alternative optical fiber-based solutions, especially for 5G lab testing. Service providers need to test the performance of e.g., their handsets and other 5G devices using various types of base stations (BTS) such as cell towers.

To address this need, RFOptic offers turnkey RFoF solutions, such as 1U chassis based on up to 4 bidirectional RFoF links, to replace coax cables. The customer can simply unplug one or more coax cables and replace them with RFOptic’s 5G bidirectional RFoF links. Once the service providers are not limited by coax distance anymore, they can use far more complex test scenarios for testing the user experience of 5G devices across many 5G network elements quickly and efficiently.

Moreover, the use of optical fibers simplifies greatly the issues of radiated and conducted EMC in such test sites. The massive amount of RF signals in such test labs creates major interference and RF leakage issues between pieces of equipment and even rooms. Fibers are insensitive to such radiated RF signals and are commonly used to transport signals between shielded labs.

All our hard work has paid off, and we are proud to announce that we received our first orders from two strategic customers, both Fortune 500 companies, for 5G applications.

To learn more, visit our 5G webpage or download the white paper (no opt-in needed).

RFOptic keeps on expanding in the USA with its Optical Delay Lines Systems

Summit CSC is our strategic partner and distributor in the USA and has been promoting RFOptic solutions with great success. US customers are especially interested in the following:

  • Variable ODL solution that can form 1µs up to 1024µs delays in 1µs delay steps. This is achieved by using 10 Main Delay segments:1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, and 512µs The Progressive architecture of RFOptic’s ODL uses proprietary optical switching to combine the delay segments to form 2^n-1 delays.
  • ODL management & control is available from the front panel with a Nav Key and LCD, via a USB interface with PC software, or using a Web Interface with most common browsers.
  • Ultra high-speed ODL state control can be provided with optional TTL control for under 1us state changes. The LCD displays the delays in µs or ns, range, altitude, or full distance in feet or meters.
  • Automatic Gain Control (AGC) option is available to maintain a steady output and system gain regardless of the delay chosen. An optional digital attenuator can be added to provide further adjustment range.

To learn more about Summit CSC, visit their website.

RFOptic’s relationship with Municom keeps getting stronger

For the last five years, Municom GmbH has been RFOptic’s distributor for central Europe. From its headquarters Traunstein and sales office in Munich, Germany, the company supplies leading-edge products for RF and optical transmission applications.

With its experienced team, Municom supports customers with the best RFOptic solutions for their applications, such as:

  • 2.5 GHz TV / Internet infrastructure on ships;
  • 6 GHz links for drone detection systems;
  • 6 GHz Sat-Signal Distribution in ground stations / buildings;
  • 12 GHz optical transmission in a radio telescope;
  • GPS/DAB/UKW Signal Distribution for laboratories;
  • 6 GHz radar signal over long distances;
  • Customer-specific 40GHz high SFDR link for antenna measurement.

For more information, visit the Municom website.

Datasheets update

As a result of our ongoing efforts to improve our products and solutions, we have updated our low-frequency RFoF datasheets with the latest specs and information. You can find the updated 2.5GHz, 2.5GHz for GPS, 3.0GHz, 4.0GHz, and 6.0GHz on the various product pages and in the datasheets section on our website.