OTN / DWDM Transport Platform – APX-OTN-5U
Product Overview
The Apex APX-OTN-5U is a 5U multi-service OTN and DWDM transport platform built for aggregation sites between access edge and core. It carries optical add and drop, electrical-layer cross-connection and multi-granular service scheduling in one managed shelf, with 10G, 100G and 200G wavelengths on the same optical layer.
The 5U chassis carries two half-height 1+1 control slots and two half-height 1+1 power slots. It supports four build options: seven full-height service cards; six full-height plus three half-height WDM cards; four full-height plus seven half-height WDM cards; or fifteen half-height WDM cards. Capacity can therefore grow card by card as traffic increases.
Line-side interfaces include OTU2, OTU2e, OTU4 and OTUC2, while client-side access covers GE/FE, 10GE LAN/WAN, 40GE, 100GE, STM-1/4/16/64 and OC-3/12/48/192. Super FEC extends 100G and 200G reach to thousands of kilometers without electrical regeneration.
Key Features
- 5U chassis sized for aggregation and metro sites
- Per-wavelength rates of 10G, 100G and 200G
- Four card build options from 7 full-height cards to 15 half-height WDM cards
- Two half-height 1+1 control slots and two half-height 1+1 power slots
- Line-side OTU2, OTU2e, OTU4 and OTUC2 interfaces
- Client-side GE/FE, 10GE LAN/WAN, 40GE and 100GE service ports
- SDH and SONET access from STM-1/4/16/64 and OC-3/12/48/192
- Integrated optical add/drop, electrical cross-connect and multi-granular scheduling
- G.709 and G.798 compliant OTN framing and performance monitoring
- SNMP management with an in-band optical supervisory channel over GCC0/1/2
Technical Specifications
| Specification | Detail |
|---|
| Part Number | APX-OTN-5U |
| Brand | Apex |
| Chassis Height | 5U |
| Service Slots | 7 full-height cards, or 4-6 full-height plus 3-7 half-height WDM cards, or 15 half-height WDM cards |
| Control Slots | 2 half-height, 1+1 redundant |
| Power Slots | 2 half-height, 1+1 redundant |
| Per-Wavelength Rates | 10G, 100G, 200G |
| Line-Side Interfaces | OTU2, OTU2e, OTU4, OTUC2 |
| Client-Side Interfaces | GE/FE, 10GE LAN/WAN, 40GE, 100GE, STM-1/4/16/64, OC-3/12/48/192, OTU2/2e/3/4 |
| FEC | Super FEC for long-reach 100G and 200G channels |
| Network Management | SNMP with in-band optical supervisory channel (GCC0/1/2) |
| Operating Temperature | 0 to 40 degC |
| Operating Humidity | 10 to 90 percent, non-condensing |
| Power Input | DC -40 to -72V, or AC 100-240V 47-63Hz |
Available Configurations
APX-OTN-5U Aggregation Chassis
The 5U shelf sits between the 10U core chassis and the 2U edge chassis. It holds two half-height 1+1 control slots and two half-height 1+1 power slots, and offers four card layouts so an operator can balance full-height service cards against half-height WDM cards as the ring grows. It uses the same service-card families and network management as the rest of the platform family.
Service Card Families
- 200G coherent muxponder card
- 100G coherent muxponder card
- 10G muxponder card
- 10G transponder card
- 40-channel and 80-channel DWDM multiplexer and demultiplexer cards
- EDFA amplifier card
- OLP 1+1 optical line protection card
Applications
Carrier Core and Metro Transport
ISP Backbone and Aggregation
Data Center Interconnect
Private and Industry Networks
Compatibility
Interoperable with major optical transport and networking platforms. Client-side pluggable interfaces follow mainstream MSA specifications, and the OTN line side conforms to ITU-T G.709 and G.798, so the platforms integrate into mixed-vendor transport networks and existing management systems.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which services can the APX-OTN-5U carry?
The optical layer transports 10G, 100G and 200G wavelengths together, and client-side cards accept GE/FE, 10GE, 40GE, 100GE, SDH, SONET and OTN signals in the same chassis.
How many cards does the 5U shelf hold?
It supports four layouts: seven full-height service cards; six full-height plus three half-height WDM cards; four full-height plus seven half-height WDM cards; or fifteen half-height WDM cards.
Can a 5U site be upgraded to a 10U core shelf later?
Yes. Both chassis use the same service-card families and management system, so cards can be moved from an aggregation site to a core site when capacity demands it.
How far can 100G and 200G channels reach without regeneration?
With super FEC enabled, 100G and 200G channels can span thousands of kilometers without electrical regeneration, which reduces the number of intermediate regeneration sites.
How is the platform managed?
Management runs over SNMP with an in-band optical supervisory channel using the GCC0/1/2 overhead bytes, giving remote visibility of the optical and electrical layers from a central system.
Why Choose Apex
- 5U form factor that matches aggregation-site rack space
- Four card layouts so capacity grows without a chassis swap
- Mixed-rate 10G, 100G and 200G transport on a single optical layer
- 1+1 control and power redundancy for continuous operation under single-card or single-feed failures
