Intel buys network software maker for $300m

The world's largest chip manufacturer for personal computers, Intel, moved to beef up its networking division Tuesday with the acquisition of networking software company Trillium Digital Systems for $300m (about £186m) in cash and unregistered common stock.

Trillium makes communications software used in wireless, Internet, broadband and telephony products. The company will become part of Intel's Network Processing Group.

Intel said it bought Trillium in order to improve its ability to offer end-to-end solutions in the networking market, increasingly important with the growth of the Internet.

"In addition to off-the-shelf silicon, customers are looking for off-the-shelf software components that enable them to reduce development time and focus their internal resources on differentiating their products." said Tom Franz, Intel vice president and general manager, Network Processing Group, in a statement.

The acquisition will also be a boost for Intel's Internet Exchange (IX) architecture, a framework for making it easier to manufacture networking and telecommunications silicon and equipment.

The architecture was announced last year and Intel has recently introduced chips based on it. After acquisition, Trillium will develop a line of communications products designed for IX, presumably making it easier for Trillium's customers to begin taking part in the framework.

"The synergy between Trillium's software architecture and the Intel IX architecture will enable us to deliver hardware and software offerings to our customers that help save them time and money," said Jeff Lawrence, chief executive of Trillium, in a statement.

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