The FTB-4 Pro delivers all the power of a high-end platform in a go-where-you-need field-testing tool.
A sum greater than its parts
Nowadays, as networks undergo major transformations and grow more complex, technicians need the right solutions to do the job right the first time. They need OSAs, Ethernet multiservice modules and OTDRs with fiber inspection probes. What’s also a key element for field teams today is the capacity to drill down effortlessly and perform all tests quickly and accurately, cutting costs and saving time in the process. This sought-after versatility and efficiency is exactly what the FTB-4 Pro brings to the table.
Do more
The Windows operating system allows for a wide choice of third-party applications and supports an extensive range of USB devices.
Start faster, multitask
Use any Office suite
Connect to printers, cameras, keyboards, mice, and more
Scalable, open platform ready for your network evolution.
Multipurpose solution ready for full service lifecycle testing with continuous end-to-end performance monitoring that identifies trends, monitors degradation and provides visibility over long-term performance key to delivering consistent subscriber QoE throughout your transition to virtual networks.
Speed promised. Speed delivered.
Measure your subscribers’ real-life throughput up to full line rate Gigabit Ethernet by using the same method they do (Speedtest®by Ookla®) while removing the effect of their home hardware or installation setup. Quickly and easily generate a birth certificate demonstrating that speeds ordered are speeds delivered—starting from service activation.
Faster root-cause analysis for in-service monitoring and troubleshooting.
Rapidly and simply locate the source of QoE issues and determine whether they originate from the service provider’s network infrastructure or from the customer’s home installation (e.g. in-house wiring, WiFi router or hardware).
Whether motivated by cost, power requirements, space or increased demand for bandwidth, pluggable transceivers are evolving rapidly. Predicting how long an existing transceiver will be required before another comes along to take its place is tough—making the obsolescence of today’s hardware simply a waiting game. Another challenge is that network operators and data centers still need to support existing technologies, but also be ready to address new rates and technologies without always doing forklift upgrades. Whether we consider SFP and SFP+ (for rates up to 10G) or QSFP28 and CFP4 (for 100G) or SFP28 (for 25G rates), it’s clear that integrating all these into a network—as well as testing and validating them—is a huge task. The smart move is to allocate budget for versatile—not limited—solutions.
EXFO’s Open Transceiver System (OTS)
Introducing a new concept for the latest Power Blazer modules: EXFO’s Open Transceiver System (OTS). The OTS is an innovative, evolutionary design enabling any transceiver (now or future) to fit into an EXFO test solution. Benefits include:
• Experience ultimate flexibility—swap out OTS modules right in the field, lab or on the production floor, choosing only the ones needed for whichever applications, rates or technologies under test. • Save tens of thousands of dollars by eliminating the necessity to completely replace an expensive testing module. Instead, change a less costly OTS module and extend the life of testing equipment. • Support multiple transceiver types simultaneously with a future-proof architecture designed to handle both current and upcoming high-speed transceiver technologies as they are developed and launched.
Support for multiple transceiver types
From left to right they are: Dual SFP28, Single CFP4, Dual QSFP28, Sync
Dual SFP28
10G / 25G / FC32x data rates
Ethernet Dual Port testing (EBERT, RFC2544, ESAM, TGEN), OTN, SONET/SDH, FC testing
The dual port can be shared with another OTS module, one port from each OTS module
FTB 5GPro test kit – helping you get 5G networks up and running fast
A versatile solution empowering field technicians and contractors to efficiently test fiber, RF and the transport network—from the core to the tower and all the way to your subscribers.
Fiber connector inspection
Fiber link characterization
Optical transceiver validation
Multi-protocol testing (CPRI, eCPRI/ORAN and Ethernet up to 100G)
Timing & synchronization
RF spectrum analysis
Intelligent RF spectrum analysis over CPRI
Full line-rate gigabit speed testing for validating enterprise and residential customers’ QoE
The FLS-5834A’s high modulation makes it a perfect complement to the FTB-5800 Chromatic Dispersion Analyzer, whose technology is based on the phase-shift method. This first-class duo lets you run chromatic dispersion (CD) measurements through amplifiers such as EDFAs, providing the highest accuracy in field CD testing.
High degree of polarization
When you need a broadband, highly polarized source for measuring PMD, turn to the FLS-5834A. Test PMD through EDFAs by combining the FLS-5834A with the patent-design breakthrough technology of the FTB-5500B PMD Analyzer.
Combining CD and PMD for precise link characterization
Designed for ultra-longhaul and 40/100 Gbit/s (and higher) applications, EXFO’s FTB-5500B PMD and FTB-5800 CD analyzer combo provides you with the speed, accuracy and high performance you need to ensure high-quality network services. Housed in the expert FTB-500 platform, the FTB-5500B and FTB-5800 test modules survive splashes, knocks and drops—ideal for CO and field conditions.
Measuring polarization mode dispersion the fast way
Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) represents a significant danger to both legacy and newly deployed networks because high PMD can induce Bit Error Rate (BER). EXFO’s FTB- 5500B PMD Analyzer helps you get ahead in the field. Whether you need to verify the capacity of legacy fiber or upgrade a network to any speed, the modular FTB-5500B is fast, reliable and ready to go.
With the prohibitive cost of installing new fiber, service providers often prefer to use installed fiber rather than build new infrastructure. Sometimes, older fibers might have been deemed unusable because of poor performance, in particular due to PMD. In other cases, a lower data rate might have been chosen (e.g. 2.5G) because a fiber with high PMD was considered unsuitable for fast data rates (e.g. 10G). That was before distributed PMD analysis. This innovative PMD measurement method enables service providers to leverage the installed fiber infrastructure to its full potential.
Since traditional PMD measurement techniques only provide a total end-to-end value compared against Pass/Fail thresholds, it used to be impossible to determine what caused a link to “fail” its PMD test, i.e., the whole link, or only localized sections. The distributed PMD analysis approach was developed to avoid such grey areas, and to help network operators tackle the PMD assessment challenge.
Measuring PMD as a function of the distance
EXFO’s FTB-5600 is the very first quantitative distributed PMD analyzer on the market. The technological breakthrough on which it is based provides operators with a cost-effective, time-efficient alternative to costly network upgrades. By breaking down the PMD measurement results, distributed PMD analysis pinpoints high-PMD sections and accurately qualifies them.
New market reality requires a new CD/PMD testing approach
The high-speed networking market has been trying to reconcile two conflicting objectives: deliver the faster data rates—10G, 40G and 100G—demanded by subscribers, and keep OPEX down to maintain profitability. Most network operators are well on their way to achieving the first objective, thanks to new fiber deployments and new technology advances such as coherent detection, DPSK/DQPSK and ROADM-based mesh networks.
However, the additional field work—installation, activation as well as the greater dispersion granularity now required—can push operation expenses in the wrong direction. These new requirements force operators to retain the services of more field crews, potentially reducing the average expertise level of technicians and increasing the rate of repeat jobs.
In a nutshell, network operators must absorb more CAPEX to equip their additional technicians, and even more importantly, they must absorb more truck rolls and OPEX.
The good news is, the aforementioned technology advances are making next-generation high-speed networks increasingly tolerant to dispersion, shifting the focus of the test instrument toward built-in intelligence, simpler setups and automated test sequences that generate results that are immediately accurate. EXFO’s FTB-5700 was designed to deliver exactly that, adding an exclusive, game-changing feature—single-endedness, which in itself dramatically cuts truck rolls. The FTB-5700 is a lightweight unit that:
Offers a fully automated, highly intelligent interface—no training required
Minimizes manual intervention, for fail-safe results
Reduces required connections to just one
Leads to faster time-to-revenue
The only single-ended PMD and CD analyzer on the market
Combining PMD and CD into one test solution that enables technicians to characterize multiple links from a single location, the FTB-5700 is built specifically for today’s high-speed network reality. Its highly intelligent interface and functionalities ensure that test parameters are automatically optimized, whatever the link.
Additional key features:
Groundbreaking single-ended testing technology reduces both the testing time and operational expenses (OPEX)
Highly robust technology for underground and aerial fiber
Network recognition: unit automatically adopts the proper parameter setups
Link-length measurement
Complies with ITU G.650.3 fiber testing standard and FOTP-243 and FOTP-175B standards
Chromatic dispersion testing in raman deployments
Raman is now an integral part of most coherent system deployments. To optimize Raman gain and efficiency, the fiber type of the effective area must be known. While it is known in most greenfield deployments, the same cannot be said for brownfield. When in doubt, the fiber type can be determined using the FTB-5700: lambda zero, CD slope and coefficient at 1550 nm. The FTB-5700 is uniquely positioned to take these measurements, and since it is single-ended, you will save on OPEX. Plus, the unit will calculate the fiber length for an accurate slope and coefficient measurement.
Single-ended testing: driving OPEX down in a hurry
In typical dual-ended dispersion testing scenarios, a technician has to be present at each fiber end. EXFO’s single-ended solution speeds up the process in two ways. First, engineer A does not have to wait for engineer B to arrive at the other end of the link with the light source. And second, fibers can be tested in multiple directions, turning a job that could take hours into one that takes minutes while reducing truck rolls and OPEX.
EXFO’s single-ended solution speeds up the process in two ways. First, engineer A does not have to wait for engineer B to arrive at the other end of the link with the light source. And second, fibers can be tested in multiple directions, turning a job that could take hours into one that takes minutes while reducing truck rolls and OPEX.
Typically, single-ended testing allows full network characterization in 66% less time than any other traditional test method. Here is the impact on truck rolls for the mesh network illustrated above:
Test type: end-to-end
Number of technicians: 2 Total number of truck rolls: 19
Test type: single-ended
Number of technicians: 1 Total number of truck rolls: 6
In this case, 68% less truck rolls. In addition to driving down OPEX, fewer truck rolls also mean faster delivery of new services—for faster time to revenue.
Combining CD and PMD for precise link characterization
Designed for ultra-longhaul and 40/100 Gbit/s applications, EXFO’s FTB-5500B PMD and FTB-5800 CD analyzer combo provides you with the speed, accuracy and high performance you need to ensure high-quality network services. Housed in the expert FTB-500 platform, the FTB-5500B and FTB-5800 test modules survive splashes, knocks and drops—ideal for CO and field conditions.
Characterizing chromatic dispersion in the field
Chromatic dispersion (CD) causes pulse broadening and can have a very negative impact on transmission performance by increasing the Bit Error Rate. EXFO’s FTB-5800 CD Analyzer offers high performance in a field-ready unit for all chromatic dispersion testing situations.
The MaxTester 610 (MAX-610) is designed for the installation and repair (I&R) of voice and DSL circuits. Its small form factor, rugged design and easy-to-use menus make it the ideal tool for outside-plant I&R technicians. With the MAX-610, the testing process is highly automated, enabling technicians to close their jobs quickly and efficiently.
Work smarter not harder
The MAX-610 allows technicians and engineers alike to work smarter—not harder. SmartR is a suite of intelligent and automated tests that enable any technician to quickly and easily gain an understanding of the condition of the line under test, as well as to identify and locate a variety of common circuit faults.
SmartR comes with several interesting features:
The Pair Detective feature automatically runs the most common line tests and provides graphical, color-coded results and pass/fail indications to detect conditions, including shorts, grounds, opens, battery, splits and imbalances.
FaultMapper utilizes time-domain reflectometry (TDR) technology to provide the additional capability of identifying the location of the service affecting line faults, including bridged taps, shorts, grounds and opens. EXFO’s unique SmartR presents results in an easy-to-understand, graphical format, making copper troubleshooting easier than ever before.
