To satisfy a market that is increasingly using fiber optic communications due to its advantages over copper cable, Panasonic offers the WA and WA-M relay models.

The WA relay is capable of switching in 1x2 and 2x2 configurations on single-mode fibers (9/125/900). With package dimensions of 31x16x9mm (length, width, and height), it provides 60dB isolation and maximum insertion losses of 1dB (typically 0.5dB) at a wavelength of 1550nm.
The switching is done by introducing a prism into the beam path, thus ensuring a repeatability of less than 0.1dB and return losses of less than 50dB.

Panasonic_WAM_picControl is achieved through a perfectly polarized, magnetically bistable system with one or two windings. This system requires only one pulse for switching and consumes no power in the rest position.

Typical applications for these optical relays include long-distance data transmission. They are also used in circuit redundancy and in OADM (optical Add-Drop Multiplexer) and DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) technologies. Other typical applications include testing systems for optical components.

The WA-M relay is the molded version, constructed so that the lens is molded at the same time as the chassis. Furthermore, this relay has cable entry and exit on the same side. It is used in CATV applications and W-CDMA base stations.