Hardware networking giant Cisco said it is acquiring privately-held firm Luxtera for $660 million. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of Cisco's fiscal year 2019 and will help company in bolstering its intent-based networking portfolio which Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins launched in June 2017.

California based Luxtera deals in semiconductor. It uses silicon photonics to build integrated optics capabilities for data centers. According to Cisco, Luxtera solutions significantly improves chip scale and performance, while lowering costs. Cisco will incorporate Luxtera's technology across its intent-based networking portfolio, spanning enterprise, data center and service provider markets.

After completion of acquistion, Cisco will integrate Luxtera's capabilities in 100GbE/400GbE optics, silicon, and process technology to build future-proof networks optimized for performance, reliability, and cost, said the company.

In addition, the integration of Luxtera and Cisco's optical transceiver portfolio will broaden Cisco's offering of 100GbE and 400GbE optics. As system port capacity increases from 100GbE to 400GbE and beyond, optics plays an increasingly important role in addressing network infrastructure constraints, particularly density and power requirements, said the company.

Luxtera employees will join Cisco's Optics business under David Goeckeler, executive vice president and general manager, Networking and Security Business.

“With Cisco's 2018 Visual Networking Index projecting that global Internet traffic will increase threefold over the next five years, our customers are facing an exponential demand for Internet bandwidth,” stated David Goeckeler, executive vice president and general manager, Networking and Security Business at Cisco. “Optics is a fundamental technology to enable this future. Coupled with our silicon and optics innovation, Luxtera will allow our customers to build the biggest, fastest and most efficient networks in the world.”