Effect Photonics has signed a definitive agreement to acquire coherent optical digital signal processing (DSP) and forward error correction (FEC) technology as well the associated engineering teams from Viasat.
The announcement was made at a press conference during the OFC Conference in San Diego. Viasat is long-established in DSP and FEC technology, with eight generations of design IP. Effect Photonics will now own the entire coherent technology stack of all optical functions, including a high-performance tuneable laser, together with DSP and FEC. Viasat will be joining Effect Photonics’ supervisory board and hold a minority interest in the company.
The move is designed to aid Effect Photonics’ ambition to make high-performance coherent communications solutions widely accessible and affordable. It also aims to enable longer-term economic and environmentally sustainable communications due to the ability to deliver high-end performance and reach within a small footprint and with lower power consumption.
The company says that customers will benefit from the acquisition because Effect Photonics will be able to optimise a complete solution for any application addressing both existing and new possibilities. In addition, with full ownership of the key optical, DSP and FEC functions, Effect Photonics is able to offer seamless integration, cost efficiency and security of supply
James Regan, CEO Effect Photonics said: ‘This is a significant step in accelerating our ambition to make coherent optical communications ubiquitous and further drive our product portfolio growth. We look forward to welcoming the team of highly skilled and experienced design architects and engineers who will be joining us to drive the development of energy efficient, high performance and affordable coherent solutions.’
Russell Fuerst, business area leader and vice president at Viasat added: ‘Given the trend of the fibre optic communications industry towards consolidation to provide vertically integrated end-to-end solutions, we believe that combining Viasat’s assets and capabilities with the unique integrated photonics capabilities of Effect Photonics will create substantially more market opportunities and better products. By investing in this Netherlands-headquartered company, we will also further expand our presence in Europe and be able to partner with Effect to bring state-of-the-art integrated photonics to Viasat’s own customers.’
Effect Photonics also announced during OFC this is is teaming up with Aircision to push the boundaries of ground-to-ground free space optics (FSO) technology by combining the advantages of integrated and free space photonics.
