San Jose, California, May 20, 2004--Continuum Photonics and EdenTree Technologies have formed a strategic partnership to develop fully integrated solutions for optical test.

The DirectLight IG switches from Continuum are scalable, non-blocking optical switches, transparent to protocol and line rate, and designed for physical and protocol layer testing and automation in manufacturing production and lab environments. The Connect_ET client/server software from EdenTree allows laboratory configurations to be quickly created, stored, retrieved, and automatically connected, managing the company's own mechatronic switches or third-party switches such as the DirectLight switch. The solution allows expensive lab equipment to be shared and physical connections to be remotely switched. A highly secure application layer protocol built in to EdenTree's applications provides security for the remote communications.

"EdenTree is committed to offering our customers an operating system that can manage multiple aspects of network labs, including physical layer connectivity, multi-user scheduling, and remote access, managing our switch as well as other switches that our customers are choosing for their labs," says Roberta Parker, EdenTree vice president of marketing. "We are pleased to work with Continuum and integrate our software with their switches, which provide an attractive combination of switching, optical attenuation, and power meter capabilities."

Users can schedule and conduct full test plans, whether the lab is located down the hall or across the country. Using EdenTree's Connect_ET product, users in San Jose can control the equipment located at Continuum to power cycle equipment, query and set connectivity (switch maps) between various equipment ports, conduct tests, and receive test results.

"This is a powerful example of integration between our respective products, and highlights the value that can be delivered to the user through automation of the physical layer connectivity and proper test management," states Aaron Bent, Continuum's vice president of marketing. "We are seeing increasing examples of test and development engineers who realize that automation is critical to enabling the required level of quality and efficiency demanded of today's more complex optical components and systems. The flexibility of the EdenTree products make them a clear choice for partnering in providing these solutions."