en

⚠️ We apologize for the inconvenience, we are currently experiencing technical issues. We thank you for your understanding.

  • English

Products

Field network testing

New Optical Wave Expert - DWDM Channel Checker and OTDR

Lab and manufacturing testing

MOA-3800 - variable optical attenuator

Service assurance

New Nova SensAI - revolutionary, real-time automated assurance solution

Solutions

Communications service providers

Contractors

Academic and research institutions

Cable MSO (multiple system operator)

Network equipment manufacturers

Webscale companies and data centers

Government

System integrators

Technologies

Services

Training

Featured Introduction to testing with OTDRs

Field network testing

Brochures and catalogs Be-an-Expert Training Catalog

Lab and manufacturing testing

Brochures and catalogs Be-an-Expert Training Catalog

Service assurance

Brochures and catalogs EXFO Astellia Training Courses

Resources

Technical documentation

Promotional documentation

Legal documentation

Blog

5G future: Our world in 2025 By Dr. Konstantinos Stavropoulos | February 2020
5G network slicing: what, why, what, how By Dr. Konstantinos Stavropoulos | December 2019
Ten interesting facts about network outages By EXFO | December 2019
View all

Webinars

The road to 10G cable networks

Jimmy Gagnon | January 30, 2020

Our 5G world in 2025: what to expect, how to make it happen

Dr. Konstantinos Stavropoulos | January 28, 2020

Telco network transformation in the 5G era: maximizing analytics and automation

Dr. Konstantinos Stavropoulos | December 12, 2019

View all

Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 0-9

Videos

Success stories

Alternate Text

Analytics-driven 5G launch (with EXFO’s Nova Services)

Alternate Text

EXFO and Zain unlock the value of network data to boost CX and revenues

Alternate Text

Hawaiki ushers in a new era of digital communications in the Pacific

View all

Transformations

To add favorites to a list, you must be logged in to your account.

Login Register

Corporate
Investors
Careers
Partners
Suppliers
Products
Field network testing
Lab and manufacturing testing
Service assurance
Solutions
Communications service providers
Wireline
Wireless
Service assurance
Contractors
Managed services, installation and maintenance
Academic and research institutions
Cable MSO (multiple system operator)
Wireline
Service assurance
Network equipment manufacturers
Physical layer and network protocol testing
Webscale companies and data centers
Physical layer and network protocol testing
Network optimization
Government
System integrators
Technologies
Support
Services
Training
Field network testing
Lab and manufacturing testing
Service assurance
How to buy
Resources
Technical documentation
Promotional documentation
Legal documentation
Videos
Transformations
Contact
English

Glossary

Technology evolves at a rapid-fire pace. That’s why we’ve built an easy-to-use glossary to help you better understand the terms, technologies and trends that impact your business.

Optical Transport Network (OTN)

Return to glossary

A set of optical network elements connected by optical fiber links, able to provide functionality of transport, multiplexing, switching, management, supervision and survivability of optical channels carrying client signals. The OTN was created to combine the benefits of SONET/SDH technology with the bandwidth expansion capabilities offered by dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) technology. It is no longer only used in core networks to transport high-speed rates (10/40/100 Gbit/s), it is now used in edge networks too.