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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Testing


Each optical transceiver has unique EEProm attributes resident on the transceiver’s NVRAM. The OEM’s IOS looks for these attributes in order to enable “plug and play” functionality - so no error codes occur and there is no command line work around required.
Before each Approved Optics optical transceiver ships out, it is tested in OEM specific platforms/switches to ensure compatibility for our customers.
Approved Optics is unique in the fact that it not only engineers a legal EEProm attribute solution for the optic without copying the code, but actually tests the optic in the appropriate platform before it ships. This is completely different than the rest of the 3rd Party Optical Transceiver suppliers in N. America.  Why? Because Approved Optics has made the significant investment in the actual platform switches that are critical to a proper environmental test.
For years, Approved Optics has private labeled for many of the optics brands in the Channel and on the web, and we still do. Other third-party brands and even the OEM’s will source from China, code the EEProm without proper testing, and simply ship the optics to unknowing customers. Approved is the only company in North America that is in the position to environmentally test the optics it ships. We’ve invested over $1.6M in switch/router/expansion card equipment to guarantee that every optical transceiver can be seamlessly integrated in to your IOS.  We make sure that the latest IOS is not only followed and supported by our EEProm attributes, but that every transceiver is environmentally tested before it ships.
For more on Approved Optics Quality, please see Quality.

Programming


The programming for each optical transceiver is unique.  Many of the OEM’s structure their EEProm data and even discrete hardware attributes in order to deter customers from buying anything but their own.  Some of these nuances in the optical transceiver can include: check digit and algorithm verification required by the OEM’s IOS. Other factors include the guarantee of non-repeating serial numbers and the assurance of embedded CLIE and MCU attributes.  Approved has invested heavily in Research and Development to ‘break’ the monopolistic activity by the OEM’s. and offer a quality solution to our clients. To read more about how the Switch OEM’s create technical barriers that push the limits of US Law read Cisco's Secret Franchise.

Approved Optics shares a relationship with the same contract manufacturers that build for of the major OEM’s and we have people on the ground assuring that they are building with the same discrete components. After confirming the exact same discrete hardware components have been included during the manufacturing of the optical transceiver, the 3rd party provider then needs to address EEProm and Algorithm ‘tricks’ that the OEM has put in place to keep customers from circumventing their brand with quality optics. Approved has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in multi-platform switch router technology and software, platform specific EEProm readers/editors, and special test software that is unique to Approved Optics. The check digit hardware programming is performed on the transceiver to assure hardware threshold functionality. Approved then verify’s the proper algorithm, in a 3rd party format for the transceiver, to insure that the IOS will verify and approve the functionality in the port without an error message and with full feature functionality. EEProm attributes are unique to every OEM transceiver - Approved has been able to uniquely parallel the attributes of the OEM without threatening intellectual property laws, so that the optical transceiver will function exactly like an original in the machine and IOS intended. Approved applies a specific serial number sequence code to the NVRAM so that the serial number on that specific transceiver will never replicate in the network. This is very important because the IOS of many OEM’s will check for duplicates and shut down the port.

Upon completed programming, our test engineers verify this process with our unique in-house Q/A software and a follow up environmental test in the actual switch.