Agilent buys duo to speed IP and router testing

For an undisclosed sum, Agilent Technologies (Palo Alto, CA) has acquired Digital Technology (Bedford, MA) and its sister company, Dynamic Digital Technology Private Ltd. (Calcutta, India), which operate as one company (DTI) developing network-protocol test solutions. Agilent expects the purchase of these companies to extend its ability to deliver test solutions used by network equipment manufacturers and service providers as they develop, select, and deploy next-generation, IP-based products and services.

DTI specializes in tools that ensure that networking and internetworking protocol software implementations conform to technical standards and operate correctly. The 34-employee company is currently focused on developing multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) testing capabilities, which will allow providers to offer IP services with quality of service guarantees and permit packet-based networks to deliver reliability comparable to today's circuit-switched public network.

"Manufacturers of network equipment, such as terabit routers, and their customers face increasing competitive pressure to bring high-speed IP services to market quickly," said Bill Wood, vice president and general manager of Agilent's Advanced Networks Division. "The addition of DTI's resources and expertise will help us extend the capabilities of our industry-leading QA Robot and RouterTester platforms."

In addition to its MPLS test suites, current DTI product offerings include ATM conformance-testing tools. The company is also developing test tools for voice-over-IP (VoIP)-related protocols such as H.323 and the session initiation protocol (SIP).

Edited by Conard Holton
Managing Editor, Fiber Optics Online