Consumer and Enterprise Network Capacity Demands Spur UNH-IOL and BroadLight Collaboration

DURHAM, N.H.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), an independent provider of broad-based testing and standards conformance services for the networking industry, today announced at the TelcoTV conference that the lab would work with BroadLight, the leading supplier of fiber access processors, to provide a GPON testing tool for the cable and telecommunications industry. UNH-IOL will bring its considerable focus and expertise in creating interoperability and conformance testing suites to the effort, while BroadLight, as one of the pioneers in GPON will leverage its Optical Line Terminal (OLT) development platform.

“We are currently the only organization offering interoperability testing for GPON”

TelcoTV will be held from November 9-11, 2010 at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, NV, and is a major North American event designed to help telecom service providers explore economical technology advances. UNH-IOL representatives will be at booth #SP-154 to provide insights on the latest test suites and how to leverage them to cost effectively meet network interoperability requirements for the telecoms industry.

The growing interest in GPON reflects both fiber as a virtually limitless bandwidth conduit and GPON as an efficient and cost-effective way to deploy fiber. With downstream speeds of 2.5 Gbps and upstream speeds of 1.25 Gbps, GPON can handle the demand for HD IPTV, online gaming and cloud computing applications. As service providers face increasing levels of competition, GPON provides the cost structure, capacity flexibility and bandwidth-intensive application support for both consumer and enterprise markets.

In cooperation with the UNH-IOL, BroadLight is providing the platform for the development of the GPON test suite that complies with the guidelines specified by the Broadband Forum, a global consortium focused on the development of global broadband network specifications. BroadLight’s participation is on the infrastructure aspects of testing, specifically on the best of class BL3458 processor chip family and the basis for the UNH-IOL’s development of the OLT emulator test tool.

“We are currently the only organization offering interoperability testing for GPON,” said Jason Walls, UNH-IOL Senior Technologist. “We are always pleased when a technology leader such as BroadLight provides equipment and support to allow us to keep our consortium members ahead of the market with leading edge testing suites.”

“The UNH-IOL reputation for independent testing and focus on quality enables us to be confident in working with them on new testing suites,” said BroadLight’s VP of Business Development, Doron Tal. “We believe the combination of the technical expertise of the lab’s staff and our platform and on-going support to the interoperability process contributes to the success of the entire industry.”

In addition to the GPON testing suite announcement, the UNH-IOL will also participate in a TelcoTV conference session entitled, “Raising Your Standards: Keys to a Successful Certification Program,” where Mr. Walls will outline the fundamentals of creating a successful certification program, as well as the pitfalls to avoid. As part of the Standards Pavilion at the show, Mr. Walls will moderate a series of presentations on Wednesday, November 10 and Thursday, November 11. The goal is to bring together standards bodies and industry forums to address questions about industry standards and their implications, provide expert advice on which standards bodies to approach and examine key standards that have and have not been ratified.

The UNH-IOL offers a variety of testing programs, or consortiums, representing a collaboration of industry leaders in network equipment, test equipment and industry forums, as well as service providers. The UNH-IOL collaborative testing model distributes the cost of performing trusted, independent testing and validation through an annual membership. More information on the UNH-IOL’s entire suite of industry leading testing programs can be found at: http://www.iol.unh.edu/services/testing/. Specific information on the GPON Consortium can be found at: http://www.iol.unh.edu/services/testing/gpon/.

About BroadLight

BroadLight is a fabless semiconductor company supplying processors to equipment vendors for fiber access applications around the globe. BroadLight enables service delivery with its highly integrated processors and software for central office and customer premises equipment. A worldwide leader in fiber access semiconductor and software, BroadLight powers GPON deployments worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.BroadLight.com.

About the UNH-IOL

Founded in 1988, the UNH-IOL provides independent, broad-based interoperability and standards conformance testing for data, telecommunications and storage networking products and technologies. Combining extensive staff experience, standards bodies participation and a 32,000+ square foot facility, the UNH-IOL helps companies efficiently and cost effectively deliver products to the market. For more information, visit http://www.iol.unh.edu/.