Silicon photonics maker Lightwire to be acquired by Cisco

Feb. 27, 2012

SAN JOSE, CA--Cisco says it is buying privately held Lightwire, which manufactures CMOS-based optical interconnects for high-speed networking applications.

Conard Holton

SAN JOSE, CA--Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) says it is buying privately held Lightwire (Allentown, PA), which manufactures CMOS-based optical interconnects for high-speed networking applications. Lightwire, with an office in Santa Clara, CA, integrates multiple high speed active and passive optical functions onto a small silicon chip.

According to a previous announcement from Lightwire, its transciever was the first commercially available standards-compliant CMOS photonics product. The 10 Gbit/s Ethernet (GE) small-form-factor pluggable long-reach multimode (SFP+ LRM) transceiver operates at 1310 nm and is used to connect servers and network equipment in Ethernet networks at distances up to 220 m.

The device is based on Lightwire’s ASIC interconnect-platform technology jointly developed with the Institute of Microelectronics (IME) and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing (both in Singapore) and integrates light-modulation circuitry onto silicon. Lightwire has said it uses MODE Solutions software from Lumerical Solutions (Vancouver, BC, Canada) extensively for developing its silicon photonic devices.

Cisco says that the smaller size, lower power consumption and scalability of Lightwire's CMOS-based technology enable switches, routers, and optical transport systems to have higher-density optical connectivity at a lower cost, allowing carriers to further reduce their operational and capital costs and offer new revenue-generating services.

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.