The TrueFlex^® Twin WSS enables the introduction of colorless and directionless wavelength add/drop at optical network nodes. This minimizes provisioning constraints that increase the pre-deployment of capital and slow time-to-service. Built upon industry-leading Lumentum liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) technology, the Twin WSS supports a fully flexible range of modulation formats and wavelength spacing to enable next-generation capacity growth for 100G and beyond.

The Twin WSS integrates two discrete high-performance switching elements into a single compact package and control interface. Software control allows the WSS to be configured for 1xN connectivity to multiple express route “degrees” or for termination to both conventional direct-detect and next-generation coherent transceivers. Termination ports are colorless in both the drop and add directions, simplifying cabling and avoiding the need for manual reconfiguration.

Additionally, the Twin WSS provides attenuation control to allow dynamic balancing of power through the node and for channels being terminated. Various configuration options are available, including 1x35 and universal MxN (M + N ≤36). For universal MxN, any port to any port switching is supported. A test access port (for example, 2x34) is provided to facilitate commissioning and troubleshooting.

TrueFlex capability means that the Twin WSS is also dynamically scalable to support higher transmission rates through the use of gridless spectrum and the accommodation of arbitrary modulation formats used for individual or super channels. Channel spacing and granularity can be adjusted in-service, at increments of 3.125 GHz.

The Twin WSS also offers best-in-class spectral resolution to deliver excellent cascaded passband performance for unmatched scalability within the node and across the network. The Twin WSS complements other products in the TrueFlex portfolio with a combination of colorless, directionless, and contentionless (CD/CDC) node attributes that drive flexibility and scalability while minimizing CapEx/OpEx for network providers.