Aurora Networks has been at the forefront of technological innovation since its inception with the introduction of a large number of award-winning solutions for cable operators.

By way of brief introduction, it was in early 2002 that Aurora announced the NC4000 series line of optical node platforms, optimized for the deployment of passive hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) networks to minimize or eliminate costly cascades of RF amplifiers. Such fiber-deep architectures permit cost-effective implementation of bandwidth-intensive services for residential and business customers such as high-speed Internet access, video-on-demand (VOD), voice-over-IP (VoIP), interactive television and circuit-switched telephony. In that same year Aurora first offered dual channel ('2-fer') digital transceivers for optical nodes and companion digital receivers for the headend to support node segmentation by doubling the available bandwidth per user while conserving fiber resources. At the same time Aurora announced the availability of its (then) new, high performance family of 1310 nm DFB transmitter modules — the industry's most space efficient, and new "gain-flattened" and 24 dBm high output power EDFAs (in addition to existing amplifiers).

A few of the other technologies pioneered by Aurora Networks are summarized here, beginning with Digital Return. Over the years, Aurora has consistently emphasized the advantages of its all-digital return solutions for almost every application entailing return paths. We invite you to read further about this preferred approach for upstream traffic before investigating the many products developed by Aurora Networks needed for architectures with an all-digital return.

When it was first introduced in 2004, Aurora's Virtual Hub (or "VHub") gained immediate attention and acclaim. At the time of its initial offering, it leveraged several new technologies from Aurora to dramatically change the way multiple system operators (MSOs) deploy hub facilities in their networks by eliminating most capital expenditures normally associated with advanced services rollouts. Comprising field hardened dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) optical passives, node-installed EDFAs and optical switches, the VHub allowed MSOs to configure hub sites within a compact strand- or pedestal-mounted housing to feed 16 to 24 unique optical signals to areas of 10,000 to 20,000 households. Since that time, Aurora has introduced a great many more plug-in modules for the VHub, making it arguably the most versatile and cost-effective outdoor optical platform available anywhere. We have included more extended discussion of the VHub in both this Technologies and the Products areas of the site.

Aurora has also been a leader in the introduction of many products that support various standard wavelength schemas, including CWDM and DWDM plans on standard ITU grids. These are further discussed in the associated description of xWDM technologies, where we also describe Aurora's unique Low-cost Wave Division Multiplexing (LcWDM^®) solution. When first introduced in 2007, Aurora's LcWDM transmitters provided a cost effective way to segment an existing node service area up to six times over distances up to 25 kilometers without using additional fibers or expensive externally modulated or DWDM transmitters, and we have since added additional wavelengths to the LcWDM series of transmitters (with corresponding growth in the breadth of ancillary passives). Given its capabilities, Aurora's segmentation solution is ideal for fiber-starved areas and can support six to eight forward segments and 24 reverse segments on a single fiber.

As the industry has evolved to recognize the increasing importance of an integrated services approach to its offerings (under the rubric of "Triple Play" or even beyond that), Aurora has kept pace — indeed, in some instances, led — in the development of products to support those initiatives. This is perhaps nowhere more true than in its recent offerings of products for passive optical network (PON) implementations, and we've provided a separate description of our own vision of the future roadmap of this multi-faceted technology.

While there are many other technological innovations that merit attention (e.g., Aurora's unique Light-Plex™ product lines), we'll close with a brief description of our industry standard SNMP-based Opti-Trace™ software applications for monitoring and remote management. Here, too, we rightly claim precedence to a number of industry "firsts," including deployment of optical node platforms with completely integrated monitoring/management capabilities that do not require installation of third-party transponders, remotely configurable daisy-chaining of digital return traffic, remote balancing of combined broadcast-narrowcast optical power levels, and, in 2008, the addition of web-based monitoring to our management tools with the introduction of the CX3002 Network Management Module. This new capability enables cable engineers and technicians to use an Internet Explorer^® or Firefox^® Web browser to configure and monitor modules in Aurora's CH3000 Chassis from any location, and also extends support to popular hand-held devices such as the Apple^® iPhone^®. With these capabilities, technical staff can check the integrity of their systems from any PC, any where, and are not tied to computers that have been previously pre-configured with special software.

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