On the afternoon of January 8, the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology organized a panel of experts to hold the 2021 Provincial New Product and New Technology Appraisal Meeting at ETERN.
Key Achievements of the Appraisal:
ETERN's 11 new products and new technologies successfully passed the rigorous appraisal. Among them, 6 new product prototypes were identified as domestic leading (including 2 domestic firsts), 2 new product prototypes achieved the dual title of international leading and domestic first, 1 new product prototype was rated as international advanced, 1 new technology was rated as domestic leading, and 1 new product was recognized as international leading.
The high-performance 100GHz 4-skip-0 DWDM filter and the high-performance 100GHz DWDM filter developed by ETERN won the highest evaluation from the appraisal committee. In addition, ETERN's Compact Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexer (CCWDM) was recognized at the international leading level. Both products serve as critical optical components in the deployment of 5G fronthaul networks.
During this appraisal, ETERN's FTTR indoor wiring photoelectric composite cable and non-metal rodent-proof indoor/outdoor wiring CFU optical cable were rated as domestic leading and domestic first level. Concurrently, the high-stability, high-reliability Athermal Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AAWG) was also rated at the domestic leading level.
Breaking Technological Barriers in Manufacturing
ETERN is a time-honored brand in China's optical communication field and one of the earliest listed companies. As a vital pillar of the ETERN Group's strategic roadmap, Etern Optoelectronics has been innovating intensively in recent years. The 4-skip-0 DWDM filter has historically been a complex challenge in the filter manufacturing industry. Through years of dedicated craftsmanship and consistent technological innovation, Etern Optoelectronics successfully breached this technical bottleneck.
The 100GHz DWDM series filters have successfully achieved mass production, positioning the company one step ahead among domestic passive component manufacturers. Furthermore, ETERN's CCWDM devices have successfully passed 6,500 hours of reliability testing. Backed by modern, industrialized, and automated large-scale production lines, ETERN provides its CCWDM devices with an unparalleled competitive advantage in terms of both performance and cost.
Deep Collaboration on 5G Fronthaul Standards
During the meeting, it was highlighted that China Telecom recently released a new round of 5G fronthaul wavelength diversity acquisition plans. The ETERN team has deeply participated in the new 5G fronthaul scheme of circulator + CWDM proposed by the Shanghai Telecom Research Institute.
In terms of standard formulation, considering that the addition of a circulator typically introduces excessive passive insertion loss and must withstand diverse climate variations between northern and southern regions, ETERN and the China Telecom Research Institute jointly established a optimized solution using circulator + CCWDM. This successfully meets harsh working temperature environments while reducing insertion loss and optimizing optical performance indicators.
In field pilot tests, ETERN secured two exclusive project bids from 2019 to 2021 for the CCWDM + circulator project of the Shanghai Telecom Research Institute. This solution has been actively deployed across dozens of existing network base stations nationwide, including Shanghai, Suzhou, Changzhou, Nantong, and Xinjiang. After more than a year of continuous network testing, current operation data confirms that all sites are running exceptionally well.
Figure: SGS GR-1221-CORE (Bellcore) Reliability Test Report
Uncompromising Quality & Proven Market Success
Li Xin, General Manager of Etern Optoelectronics, emphasized the company's rigorous commitments. In terms of Quality Control, ETERN's CCWDM products undergo extensive reliability evaluations including mechanical vibration, mechanical shock, and temperature shock. Higher testing benchmarks were set for high/low temperature storage, temperature cycling, and Damp Heat (Double 85) testing. Currently, ETERN's internal damp heat and temperature cycling validations have safely surpassed the 6,500-hour milestone, completely restricting insertion loss variation to within 0.5dB.
In terms of Market Performance, by the end of 2021, ETERN's CCWDM solutions have been fully qualified and adopted by numerous Tier-1 domestic equipment and optical module manufacturers. Cumulative shipments have exceeded 200K channels, maintaining a flawless record of 0 annual failures.
"After years of thorough technical preparation, Etern Optoelectronics is fully ready to excel in both R&D and advanced manufacturing. As the network deployment scales up, it is time for more industry partners to realize the core capabilities and manufacturing strength of Etern Optoelectronics," stated Li Xin.