News | November 7, 2000

LeCroy 60 GHz microwave communications analyzer for characterizing broadband and fiber optic components

Source: LeCroy Corporation
<%=company1%> (Chestnut Ridge, NY), a supplier of high-performance digital oscilloscopes, announced that it launched the first of a series of products based on technology acquired in the July 2000 acquisition of Lightspeed Electronics, Inc. LeCroy's MCA1060 is a digital oscilloscope with a 60 GHz bandwidth and provides measurement solutions for product design and production test of 10 Gbit/second to 40 Gbit/second communications products. The company expects initial sales to come from telecommunications firms working on development and design for broadband electronic and optical communications systems.

In addition to a very high speed 60 GHz signal acquisition system, the MCA1060 has signal viewing and analysis capabilities combined with a set of three built-in signal sources designed to give the communications design engineer a full set of device characterization tools. The designer can observe both the time domain and frequency domain response of an electronic component using tools similar to those in both a digital oscilloscope and a vector network analyzer.

Tom Reslewic, LeCroy President and Chief Operating Officer, said, "In July, we said that we expected to launch the first of the 'Lightspeed' based products by the beginning of November and we are excited to have hit this important first target. Our product development team has already initiated design on subsequent versions of this product, which will incorporate significantly advanced measurement, analysis and user interface capabilities. We expect to launch at least two more products based on this technology within the next 12 months, supporting LeCroy's objective to launch significant new products in each of the next five quarters."

The MCA1060 has a base price of $39,995 in the U.S., plus a variety of product options. LeCroy estimates the market size for the MCA1060 to be near $150 million with a projected annual growth rate exceeding 30 percent. The company also sees significant market opportunities for product variations based on this technology in the direction of Vector Network Analyzers that can characterize and predict the frequency domain behavior of electronic networks. LeCroy estimates the addressable market for very high bandwidth oscilloscopes and other product variations like Vector Network Analyzers to be in excess of $400 million annually.

LeCroy Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets electronic signal acquisition and analysis products and services. The company's core business is the production of high-performance digital and analog oscilloscopes, which are used by design engineers and researchers in industries including electronics, computers, and communications.

LeCroy Corporation. Tel: 845-425-2000.

Edited by Paul O'Shea
Managing Editor, TestandMeasurement.com