Cisco on Thursday announced that it intends to acquire San Francisco-based Arch Rock Corp., developer of IP wireless network technology for the smart grid.
The announcement to acquire the privately-held firm dovetails with Cisco’s announcement on Wednesday of its partnership with smart meter maker Itron. It all plays into the networking giant’s mission to move the utility industry toward an open, interoperable and “smart” power grid.
At the center of the acquisition is Arch Rock’s PhyNet-Grid wireless mesh technology, which allows utilities to connect smart meters and other distributed “intelligent” devices over a scalable, secure, multi-way wireless network.
Cisco says it will absorb the Arch Rock team in its Smart Grid business unit by the end of 2010.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
