Agilent Technologies Inc., Palo Alto, Calif. (www.agilent.com), acquired exclusive rights to absolute-encoder technology from Optolab Microsystems AG, Erfurt, Germany (www.optolab.com), a sensor and systems design company.

Agilent expects to introduce new encoders for use in industrial-automation applications based on this technology later this year. The technology is designed to produce the world's smallest, high-speed absolute encoder capable of resolutions ranging from 12 to 16 bits, complementing Agilent's own absolute encoders which offer 8 and 10-bit resolutions.