Cisco buys CoreOptics to help scale fibre networks

Cisco plans to acquire privately held CoreOptics, a maker of optical networking technology designed to help carriers handle an expected surge in IP traffic driven partly by the adoption of cloud computing.

CoreOptics' digital signal processing technology is intended to help service providers scale their IP networks while keeping costs down by making transmission more efficient, Cisco said in an announcement on Thursday.

The company said its research shows IP traffic will increase fivefold between 2008 and 2013, with a 40-percent compound annual growth rate, due largely to the growth in cloud computing, video and mobile applications.

CoreOptics' engineering expertise is focused on the design of digital application-specific integrated circuits and modulation formats, as well as optical systems, applications and network architecture.

Its modulation and digital signals processing technology allows carriers to more efficiently carry large amounts of data over existing fibre-optic infrastructure, Cisco said.

"We are focused on continuing to deliver an industry-leading portfolio of routing, switching and optical transport systems that enable our service provider customers to better address the ever-present business challenge of managing tight capital and operating budgets while accommodating the tremendous growth in network traffic," said Surya Panditi, general manager of Cisco's service provider access and transport technology group, in a statement.

CoreOptics is based in San Jose, California, with most of its employees located in Nuremberg and Gerlingen, Germany. Cisco said the acquisition will add to its existing European optical engineering operations in Monza, Italy.

The CoreOptics employees will become part of Cisco's Service Provider Technology Group. They will work with the engineering teams in Monza, as well as in Bangalore, India, and Richardson, Texas, Cisco said.

The expansion of fibre-based networks is increasingly seen as a key factor in driving the UK's digital economy. On Thursday, for instance, the coalition government laid out broadband plans that include possible new legislation to cut the cost of rolling out high-speed broadband across the UK, in order to get fibre access to more areas and to encourage new companies to become broadband providers.

In addition, BT said last week that it will roll out fibre-based fast broadband to two-thirds of UK homes, a step up from its original aim of covering 40 percent of the country.