
Alphawave buys Banias Labs for coherent optical bid
Data center chip and IP company Alphawave IP Group plc has bought optical DSP chip company Banias Labs Ltd. (Hod Hasharon, Israel) for US$240 million.
Alphawave is betting on what is currently a long-haul communications technology – coherent optical communications – being applied within data centers in the next generation of Ethernet links.
The deal is also the latest in a series of mid-sized acquisitions made by Alphawave after raising funds by going public on the London Stock Exchange (see Chiplet opportunity prompts Alphawave to buy SiFive design arm for $210 million).
Alongside the acquisition of Banias Labs Alphawave said it has negotiated multi-year framework deal with a leading North American ‘hyperscale’ company that could involve the supply of more than US$300 million in optical products.
Alphawave still has to develop and sell the portfolio of optical products but these would be based on coherent DSP technology from Banias Labs. The company expects to start selling optical products in 2024.
Intra-datacenter
Tony Pialis, CEO of Alphawave said that the Banias acquisition expands Alphawave’s market opportunity by providing the means to create coherent optical solutions for advanced data centers
John Lofton Holt, executive chairman of Alphawave, said: “Coherent optics will enable the next level of efficiencies in data center communications, addressing the increasing bandwidth and power efficiency requirements.”
Coherent optics could be a foundation for industry efforts to achieve 800G and 1.6T Ethernet speeds while maintaining the required reaches inside and outside data centers and also significantly reducing power consumption. Coherent technology is already in use, but predominantly in long-haul communications in excess of 100km and for connecting data centers.
Alphawave said it is committed to becoming an industry leader with a broad portfolio of PAM4 and coherent DSPs, in the most advanced technologies, and for all forms of data center connectivity.
Banias Labs was founded in 2020 and at acquisition had approximately 50 employees the majority of whom are R&D focused.
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