Acterna ONT-50 10G Optical Network Tester

The Acterna ONT-50 10G Optical Network Tester is a four-slot modular mainframe engineered for installation, commissioning, and maintenance of optical networks up to 10 Gbps. It delivers BER testing, protocol analysis, and service verification across SONET/SDH, OTN, and Ethernet interfaces with field-upgradeable modules and simultaneous multi-application support.

Technical Specifications

• 4-slot modular architecture


• Linux operating system


• 12.1-inch color TFT touchscreen, SVGA resolution (800×600 pixels), 65,536 colors


• Supports over 20 field-upgradeable modules Protocol Support


• SONET/SDH up to OC-192/STM-64 (10 Gbps)


• OTN G.709 including OTU-2 (10.7 Gbps) with FEC


• Ethernet up to 10 Gbps


• EoS (Ethernet over SONET/SDH)


• Packet over SONET/SDH (PoS)


• DSn/PDH


• Virtual Concatenation (VC) and non-concatenated sub-rate mappings down to STS-1/VC3-AU3 Optical Interfaces


• Single Mode Fiber (SMF) Electrical Interfaces


• 50 Ω impedance, AC coupled, SMA connectors


• Generator: 52 Mb/s to 2.488 Gb/s, 2.666 Gb/s (OTN module), scrambled NRZ, >200 mVpp output


• Receiver: 52 Mb/s to 2.488 Gb/s, 2.666 Gb/s (OTN module), 200–1000 mVpp input, scrambled NRZ


• Differential electrical interfaces available for Jitter 10G module (9.95–11.32 Gbps)

Key Features

• Bit Error Rate (BER) testing and unframed BERT at various rates


• Jitter and Wander testing for 10/10.7 Gbps per ITU-T O.172 Appendix VII + VIII


• Q-factor analysis


• Optical Spectrum Analysis (OSA) with dual-port capability


• DWDM testing (optical and digital)


• FEC testing for OTN


• IP traffic simulation and troubleshooting


• Touchscreen interface with point-and-shoot operation


• Multi-user, simultaneous multi-application platform (MAP)

Typical Applications

• Long-haul optical network deployment and commissioning


• SONET/SDH and OTN service verification


• 10 Gbps Ethernet and PoS validation


• DWDM optical layer characterization


• Jitter, wander, and signal quality analysis

Compatibility & Integration The modular design accommodates custom module configurations for evolving network technologies. Field upgrades enable existing installations to scale to new protocols and interface standards without mainframe replacement.