San Jose, Calif.-based Symmetricom will pay $8 million to its technology neighbor in Palo Alto, Agilent Technologies, for its frequency and time standards product line. The deal is expected to close within a few weeks and will put the precision timing company in solid command of the market.

Agilent's product line includes the 5071A Primary Frequency Standard, one of the highest-performing commercial cesium standards available for timekeeping. The cesium clock, accurate to one second every 162,000 years, is used in government laboratories worldwide and by national time authorities and measurement institutes, such as the U.S. Naval Observatory and the world's time authority, BIPM, in France.

The U.S. government also uses Agilent's precision timing instruments for satellite communication ground stations and precision navigation. "Agilent has been strong in the metrology market, keeping time for the time keepers," said John Yuzdepski, general manager of Symmetricom's telecom solutions division. "We have been a been a major market leader in telecom synchronization and timing. This acquisition represents a consolidation of the market and solidifies our position as the undisputed market leader in precise frequency and time standards."

Cesium standards are mission-critical frequency references used in government timekeeping, communications and satellite applications, and aerospace and telecommunications networks. Agilent pioneered the cesium standard in 1964 (then part of HP) and has historically addressed the high-performance end of the market. Symmetricom pioneered the use of cesium atomic clocks on board the Global Positioning System satellites, enabling full operational capability of GPS in April of 1995. The precision and stability of cesium atomic clock technology is the enabling element in GPS's precision navigation accuracy.

"Our whole company is built around the notion of precision and accuracy and that's getting to be an even more poignant concept in today's networks," Yuzdepski said.

He added that Symmetricom is happy to be keeping the technology in the U.S. The company has made job offers to all of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based Agilent employees who support the product line. Symmetricom will eventually move manufacturing to its San Jose location and consolidate their product lines.

"There are things that Agilent did that are world class and we admire them for that," Yuzdepski said. "There are also things we do well, so in the next evolution of this technology we see these products coming together."