Award-winning Solutions

2023 Lightwave Innovation Award #1

Xena’s Freya 800G Ethernet traffic generator received a 4.0 score from Lightwave Innovation in the category of Lab/Production Test Equipment in 2023.

Xena’s Freya Traffic Generator is one of the first to support 800Gbps Ethernet testing over 56 G & 112G SerDes. A unique feature of the product is the proprietary implementation and control over all Physical (PHY) sublayers inside the FPGA rather than using a 3rd party PHY with a fixed feature set. This new implementation is called the “Xena PHY”.

The benefits of this unique feature are fast, flexible and highly granular access for testing specific features as well as the flexibility to add new features as standards and use cases evolve.

To learn more, visit the main Freya product page.


2023 Lightwave Innovation Award #2

Xena’s FreyaCompact AN/LT Test Appliance  received a 4.0 score from Lightwave Innovation in the category of Lab/Production Test Equipment in 2023.

Xena’s new AN/LT test appliance is specifically designed for testing the AN/LT protocols at 56/112 Gbps SerDes speeds. The industry-leading testing options for AN/LT are made possible thanks to Xena Networks’ proprietary implementation and control over all Physical (PHY) sublayers inside the FPGA rather than using a 3rd party PHY with a fixed feature set.

The FreyaCompact AN/LT Test Appliance is designed to aid developers of Ethernet equipment test AN/LT protocol implementations. Normally, the AN/LT protocols send and receive messages automatically when two network devices are connected. Using the FreyaCompact AN/LT Test Appliance, allows developers to step through the protocols one message at a time enabling them to quickly and easily identify possible errors or timing issues in the implementation. The FreyaCompact AN/LT Test Appliance can also test the true equalizer performance of a remote unit by disabling automatic equalizer adaptations in the tester unit.

To learn more read our Xena PHY White Paper.


Lightwave Innovation reviews 4.0 2021

2021 Lightwave Innovation Award

Chimera, Xena’s network emulation solution received a 4.0 score from Lightwave Innovation in the category of Lab/Production Test Equipment in 2021.

Chimera Traffic Emulator Module

Chimera adds a valuable dimension to Xena’s Ethernet Traffic Generator solutions by giving test engineers a quick and easy way to measure multiple forms of latency and jitter up to 100Gbps seamlessly from within XenaManager.

Key features for Chimera are:

  • True wire-speed impairment at 100Gbps (plus 50 / 40 /25 & 10Gbps)
  • Ease of use – Chimera is a stand-alone network emulation tool that integrates seamlessly with the Xena traffic generator letting you use the same SW to both generate and impair Ethernet traffic.
  • Highest port density in the industry – plus option to reserve individual port-pairs without blocking access to the others
  • Setting up custom impairment distributions is quick and simple
  • Chimera supports a broad range of impairments (latency/jitter, packet & port impairments, flexible distributions, BW shaping etc)
  • Powerful, easy-to-use automation & scripting options
  • A price point 50% below comparable hardware emulators

Lightwave Innovation Award 2020

Vantage, Xena’s unique solution for Ethernet production line testing won a Lightwave Innovation Award for 2020.

Vantage delivers the functionality needed for testing devices in assembly-line environments – fast, robust, easy to use with the flexibility to support customer’s MES databases.

Vantage is a cost-efficient tool for quickly detecting performance issues and verifying the performance of new features before the devices leave the factory. It is used to test switches, NICs, routers, GPON devices, cable modems, EOC, power modems and so on.

Vantage is all about ease-of-use. The intuitive web-browser GUI gives quick access to powerful automation features that make it simple for production-line staff to conduct comprehensive testing with just a few minutes instruction – one click of a button is enough to execute complex sequences of testing and report generation.

Lightwave awarded Vantage a score of 3.5 out of 5.


Lightwave Innovation Award 2019

Safire, the Enterprise Firewall Performance Tester won a Lightwave Innovation Award for 2019.

Innovative product with a lot of promise. Appears to have a very targeted customer base in IT departments within mid to large enterprises, where it would likely see its greatest use and value.

The Safire NGFW Tester from Xena Networks is world’s first “no-fuss” next-generation firewall (NGFW) tester. Unlike complex and expensive lab-based Layer 4-7 test equipment, Safire is designed for enterprise IT managers looking to quickly and cost-effectively measure and document the performance of NGFWs using realistic traffic mixes. A browser-based application makes it easy to quickly measure the performance of NGFWs under realistic traffic conditions and generate a PDF containing all the results and key conclusions.

Lightwave awarded Safire the impressive score of 4.5 out of 5, indicating a “superb product that sets new standard for performance and provides groundbreaking and new technical milestones.”


Xena’s XAM (XenaAppMix) won a Lightwave Innovation Award for 2017.

XAM is “a superb product that sets new standard for performance and provides groundbreaking and new technical milestones”

XAM is used to validate the performance of devices and networks that handle stateful TCP/UDP traffic – firewalls, traffic shapers, routers, deep-packet inspection equipment, capture devices and more – by providing instant access to a large library of protocols and application traffic in pcap format so test engineers can quickly configure streams of traffic comprised of many “real-world” applications, using pre-defined and customizable mix templates.

Xena’s M1CFP4QSFP28CXP Gigabit Ethernet Test Module won a Lightwave Innovation Award for 2016.

“Lightwave‘s review panel selected the unique tri-speed, triple media test module for its unique combination of functionality, flexibility and price/performance”.

XenaAppliance L2-7 Gigabit Ethernet Test System also earned a Lightwave Innovation Award for 2016.

“Lightwave awarded XenaAppliance a final score of 4 indicating a “superb product that sets new standard for performance and provides groundbreaking and new technical milestones”.

In 2015, Xena accepted its fourth consecutive accolade from Frost & Sullivan – “2015 Global High Speed Ethernet Test Equipment Customer Value Leadership “

“Xena Networks offers customers the best value for money with high-performance Gigabit Ethernet test solutions that make it easy for NEMs and network service providers to quickly and comprehensively evaluate network performance.”

In 2013, Xena accepted its fourth consecutive accolade from Frost & Sullivan – “2013 Global Customer Value Leadership Award”

“The company has consistently offered some of the industry’s most cost-efficient test solutions, which are designed to offer maximum benefits at a competitive price. Xena offers strong capabilities, primarily, in Layer 2-3 testing, covering 1Gig, 10 Gig, 40 Gig and 100Gig of testing speeds.”

In 2012, Xena accepted its third consecutive accolade from Frost & Sullivan – “Global Test Equipment Price Performance Value Leadership Award”.

“Xena continues to focus on innovation, new product launches and upgrades, and effective service delivery through customer centric business approach. Xena’s proven ability to develop, and deliver cost-effective products and solutions that effectively maintain a fine balance between cost and performance, positions the company in a unique place – wherein it is able to cater to a broad range of customers – from very small, medium sized to large organizations.”

Red Herring’s editorial staff evaluated the winners of the regional Top 100 contests in Asia, Europe and America. They focused on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, technology innovation, management quality, strategy, and market penetration.

This assessment was set in perspective by a review of the track record and standing of startups relative to their sector peers

“Choosing the best out of the previous two years was by no means a small feat,” said Alex Vieux, Chairman of Red Herring. “After rigorous contemplation and discussion, we narrowed our list from 1,100 potential companies down to 100 winners. Xena Networks should be extremely proud of its achievement; the Top 100 Global truly are the best of the best.”

The full name of this award sums up everything that Xena stands for – “2011 Global Gigabit Ethernet Test Equipment Price Performance Value Leadership Award”.

Winning this second accolade from Frost & Sullivan was a largely unexpected confirmation that we were on track to achieving our strategic goals.

According to Frost & Sullivan:

“Xena, by keeping in sync with the evolving trends of the Gigabit Ethernet test equipment market, is poised for growth with its cost-effective, feature-rich Ethernet testing solutions. The company has been consistently focusing on customer requirements, creating a fine balance between the price and performance of its Ethernet testing solutions.”