Abstract: Methods and apparatus for allowing a dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) line card w to function as an add/drop multiplexer (ADM), a transponder, and a muxponder are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a line card suitable for use in a network to aggregate signals of different line rates for transport includes a first arrangement having ADM functionality, a second arrangement having transponder functionality, and a third arrangement having muxponder functionality. The line card also includes hardware that facilitates communication between the arrangements, as well as a plurality of ports arranged to receive a signal and to provide the signal to the hardware.

Abstract: A method for designing an electronic component includes receiving a device criteria (e.g., a parametric value, procurement value, etc.) from a designer, querying a database for devices corresponding to the device criteria, querying the database for procurement data and/or engineering data associated with the corresponding devices, presenting the devices to the designer based on the procurement data, and receiving input from the designer identifying one of the presented devices as a selected device. In a particular method, the returned devices are sorted based on one or more procurement values (e.g., manufacturer, price, availability, manufacturer status, etc.), and presented to the designer in a ranked list. Objects representative of the selected devices are then entered into a design file, and the objects are associated with the device's engineering and/or procurement data. In a particular embodiment, the objects are associated with the engineering data by embedding the engineering data in the file object.