Softing has acquired the assets of US-based Phoenix Digital Corporation (PDC), which specializes in secure industrial fiber optic communication products. Softing itself is a mid-sized company that operates worldwide as a provider of hardware and software solutions for automotive electronics, industrial automation, and IT networks. According to Dr. Wolfgang Trier, CEO of Softing AG, the takeover strengthens Softing Industrial’s position in the market and enables it to expand its portfolio of IoT solutions. No details have been disclosed on how much Softing paid for PDC.

The patented PDC data communication approach with opposing optical rings is particularly robust and tamper-proof by design. Following a restart, the networked controllers should reconnect and be able to work again extremely quickly; the fiber-optic packet-encapsulation technology requires no user-based software. The key target groups are the oil and gas, mining, water and wastewater management, and chemical industries.