Cisco to acquire silicon photonics firm Luxtera

Cisco of San Jose, CA, USA intends to acquire privately held fabless silicon photonics firm Luxtera of Carlsbad, CA, USA for $660m in cash and assumed equity awards. The firm plans to incorporate Luxtera’s technology across its intent-based networking portfolio, spanning enterprise, data-center and service provider markets.

“With Cisco’s 2018 Visual Networking Index projecting that global Internet traffic will increase threefold over the next five years, our customers are facing an exponential demand for Internet bandwidth,” says David Goeckeler, executive VP & general manager, Networking and Security Business at Cisco. “Optics is a fundamental technology to enable this future. Coupled with our silicon and optics innovation, Luxtera will allow our customers to build the biggest, fastest and most efficient networks in the world,” he reckons.

The acquisition is intended to:

Future-proof networks for emerging applications: The emerging class of distributed cloud, mobility and Internet of Things (IoT) applications is creating an unprecedented strain on existing communications infrastructure. The combination of Cisco’s and Luxtera’s capabilities in 100GbE/400GbE optics, silicon and process technology should enable customers to build future-proof networks optimized for performance, reliability and cost, it is reckoned.
Expand Cisco’s 100GbE and 400GbE portfolio: Integration of Luxtera and Cisco’s optical transceiver portfolio will broaden Cisco’s offering of 100GbE and 400GbE optics. As system port capacity increases from 100GbE to 400GbE and beyond, optics plays an increasingly important role in addressing network infrastructure constraints, particularly density and power requirements, the firm adds.

The acquisition is expected to close in Cisco’s fiscal third-quarter 2019, subject to customary closing conditions and required regulatory approvals. Upon completion, Luxtera employees will join Cisco’s Optics business under David Goeckeler, executive VP & general manager, Networking and Security Business.

Tags: Luxtera Silicon photonics Optical transceivers

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