OTN / DWDM Transport Platform – APX-OTN-10U
Product Overview
The Apex APX-OTN-10U is the highest-capacity chassis in the OTN and DWDM transport platform family, a 10U shelf for carrier core sites and high-traffic metro nodes. It brings optical add and drop, electrical-layer cross-connection and multi-granular service scheduling into one managed system, with 10G, 100G and 200G wavelengths on the same optical layer.
The 10U shelf holds 16 full-height service slots, or a mix of 4 to 12 half-height and 10 to 14 full-height slots, together with two 1+1 control slots, two 1+1 power slots and one system interface slot. Maximum power draw is 2500 W and the chassis measures 446 x 463 x 243 mm.
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
- 10U shelf with 16 full-height service slots for core sites
- Mixed slot layouts of 4-12 half-height plus 10-14 full-height cards
- Per-wavelength rates of 10G, 100G and 200G
- Two 1+1 control slots, two 1+1 power slots and one system interface slot
- 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-10U |
| Brand | Apex |
| Chassis Height | 10U |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | 446 x 463 x 243 mm |
| Service Slots | 16 full-height slots, or 4-12 half-height plus 10-14 full-height |
| Control Slots | 2, 1+1 redundant |
| Power Slots | 2, 1+1 redundant |
| System Interface Slots | 1 |
| 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 |
| Maximum Power Consumption | 2500 W |
| Operating Temperature | 0 to 40 degC |
| Operating Humidity | 10 to 90 percent, non-condensing |
| Network Management | SNMP with in-band optical supervisory channel (GCC0/1/2) |
| Power Input | DC -40 to -72V, or AC 100-240V 47-63Hz |
Available Configurations
APX-OTN-10U Core Chassis
The 10U shelf is the core-site option of the platform family. It holds 16 full-height service slots, or a mix of 4 to 12 half-height and 10 to 14 full-height slots, plus two 1+1 control slots, two 1+1 power slots and one system interface slot. Maximum power draw is 2500 W. It uses the same service-card families and management as the smaller chassis.
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
The platforms carry 10G, 100G and 200G wavelengths across core and metro rings, with integrated optical add/drop and electrical cross-connect for flexible service routing.
ISP Backbone and Aggregation
Service providers aggregate Ethernet, SDH, SONET and OTN traffic onto shared wavelengths, using 1+1 control and power redundancy to keep backbone links available.
Data Center Interconnect
High-capacity coherent wavelengths link data centers over regional distances, while super FEC limits the need for intermediate regeneration along the route.
Private and Industry Networks
Utility, transport and campus networks use the same chassis for dedicated transport of protected and low-latency services over owned fiber.
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
What capacity does the APX-OTN-10U 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 10U shelf hold?
16 full-height service slots, or a mix of 4 to 12 half-height and 10 to 14 full-height cards, plus two 1+1 control slots, two 1+1 power slots and one system interface slot.
What are the chassis dimensions?
446 x 463 x 243 mm, with a maximum power draw of 2500 W.
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
- 16 full-height service slots for high-capacity core sites
- Mixed slot layouts that balance service cards and WDM cards
- Mixed-rate 10G, 100G and 200G transport on a single optical layer
- 1+1 control and power redundancy with shared cards across the platform family
