AGILITY COMMUNICATIONS SHOWCASES FIRST PACKAGED PROTOTYPE OF HIGH-POWER, SINGLE CHIP, 10-mW WIDELY-TUNABLE LASER ACROSS THE ENTIRE C-BAND

Source: Agility Communications

Greg Fish, Chief Development Engineer and Co-founder of Agility, Presented Results at Prestigious OFC Conference

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. Agility Communications, Inc., a pioneer of next-generation optical networking components, widely announces today the results of the first packaged prototype of a truly monolithic, 10-mW widely-tunable laser that can rapidly tune to more than 90 ITU (International Telecommunications Union) channels. The results were reported at the recent OFC Conference held the week of March 19, 2001. As the industry s first widely-tunable monolithic laser to be graduated from laboratory experiments into prototypes for sampling, Agility s 10-mW laser is capable of delivering substantial power over a wide tuning range from a single semiconductor chip. The OFC conference presents the latest in rapidly evolving technology and applications of optical fiber communications. This year s OFC conference had some 38,000 attendees and exhibits from more than 800 companies.

Details of Agility s technological advancements were reported by Greg Fish, chief development engineer and co-founder of Agility, to some 500 attending experts in the field. The OFC nominating committee had invited Fish to speak about Agility s widely-tunable, SG-DBR lasers. Based on rigorous alpha testing at Agility s manufacturing facility in Santa Barbara, Calif., Fish reported data and results about Agility s high-power, monolithic, 10-mW widely-tunable laser that was packaged on Agility s manufacturing line. This is the first such prototype of its kind.

The Agility 10-mW prototype represents a breakthrough on several levels. Agility s unique "all-monolithic" architecture, based on Indium Phosphide, enables Agility to integrate all necessary optical components on a single chip. The chip serves as a platform that is robust, economical, and easy to manufacture as it has no moving parts. An alternative production technique to attain this level of high power in tunable lasers involves combining multiple chips and complicated optical packaging, a process that is difficult and expensive to automate. Agility is the only optical provider to deliver high power over such a wide tuning range from a single semiconductor chip - substantially reducing the manufacturing costs of producing these widely-tunable lasers in massive volumes. Demonstration of this 10-mW laser s power across the full C-band confirms Agility s ability to compete formidably in the long-haul market and validates that the company has accomplished the first step toward delivering even higher power levels.

Agility Communications, Inc., is pioneering breakthrough optical networking infrastructure solutions that dramatically reduce the costs and complexity of supporting agile networks. Developed for Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexed (DWDM) networks, Agility s first products -- high-power, widely tunable lasers, will help communications providers to increase network capacity, maximize existing network resources, streamline the planning process for network growth, and dynamically provision bandwidth.

"At this year s OFC, there were many exciting announcements of what companies hope to do in the coming year," said Larry Coldren, co-founder of Agility. "We were delighted to report at the premier conference of our industry, and demonstrate among our peers, proof of the highest-power, monolithic, 10-mW widely-tunable laser to tune to more than 90 channels across the full C-band. Everyone wants higher power, the ability to integrate high-speed modulators, and lower cost. The data and results we ve shared clearly show that our architecture can deliver on all three."

"Under rigorous production testing in our manufacturing facilities, Agility can provide the data and results to substantiate the full capabilities of our all-monolithic, 10-mW widely- tunable laser, " said Ron Nelson, president and CEO of Agility. " Our first offering supported the needs of the metro space and, with this new high-power capability, Agility can now address the long-haul space. This is one more step toward realizing our vision of using photonic integrated circuits to provide cost-effective solutions in optical networking. Because Agility can integrate components at the chip level, our "all-monolithic" architecture delivers high power, functionality, and can be manufactured at the lowest possible price. We have been delighted to report and share our findings with our colleagues, and we consider this an accomplishment that will further propel advancements in this industry."

About Agility Communications, Inc. Agility Communications, Inc., is pioneering breakthrough optical networking infrastructure solutions that dramatically reduce the costs and complexity of supporting agile networks. Developed for Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) networks, Agility s first products, high-power, widely-tunable lasers, will help service providers deliver high-bandwidth services, maximize existing network resources, simplify the planning process for network growth, and dynamically provision bandwidth. By integrating optical components at the chip level, Agility creates a simpler architecture for networking equipment that increases density and allows fast automation, lowering capital and operating costs for service providers.

Agility has already won numerous recognitions, including Light Reading s selection of Agility as one of the Top 10 Privately Held Companies and the Technologic Partners Optix 2001 Investor s Choice award naming Agility one of 10 private optical communications companies most likely to succeed as a public company. Founded by a team of optical networking and semiconductor veterans in Oct. 1998, Agility is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California and has manufacturing facilities in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Agility investors include Amerindo Investment Advisors, Berkeley International Capital Ltd., Comdisco Ventures, Dell Ventures, Hammer Capital Management, Inc., Milton Chang, Meritech Capital Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures, Mustang Ventures, U.S. Venture Partners, and Worldview Technology Partners. For more information about Agility solutions visit www.agility.com, send email to info@agility.com or call 805-690-1700.

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