Navy engineers needed a test and measurement platform to analyze communication links. They found a solution with FIREBERD 8000 and FST 2310 from JDS Uniphase Corp. (JDSU), San Jose, Calif.

Navy and Marine Corps technicians will use the tools to test bit error rates (BERs) for a wide variety of communication circuits including satellite, ship-to-shore, and tactical links. The contract was awarded to JDSU by the Naval Inventory Control Point (NAVICP), Mechanicsburg, Pa., and is valued at more than $8 million over the next five years.

The test solutions include JDSU’s Testpad 2000 user interface module, along with the FIREBERD 8000 and the FST 2310, which will perform various measurements, including BER testing on circuits that range from asynchronous/synchronous serial datacom, T1 (including ISDN primary rate interface, or, PRI), DS3 to OC-3 SONET.

JDSU’s FST-2310 TestPad helps to provision, troubleshoot, and maintain DS0 to OC-48 services and can perform, among other applications, end-to-end BER testing using a wide range of stress test patterns. For more information, see www.jdsu.com.

“This contract not only allows ships, shore and Department of Defense customers to receive their equipment within a premium delivery time of 60-to-90 days, but also delivers significant cost savings to the Navy,” says Ed Kohr, general purpose electronic test equipment (GPETE) program manager at NAVICP.

NAVICP is the largest field activity of the Naval Supply Systems Command. It procures, manages, and supplies spare parts for Naval aircraft, submarines and ships worldwide, including over 400,000 items of supply, $21 billion of inventory and annual sales of $4.2 billion.