Softbank and NewPhotonics’ collaboration targets AI-RAN and data center opportunities

FRANKFURT--SoftBank and NewPhotonics have entered a joint research and development collaboration to advance photonics technologies for LPO (Linear-drive Pluggable Optics), CPO (Co-packaged Optics), and All-Optics Switch Fabric.

This photonics-electronics convergence technology, combined with high-speed optical communication and Optical Switching Technology, enables low latency and low power consumption in AI data centers and mobile fronthaul infrastructure.

Specifically, these technologies support SoftBank in AI data center and mobile fronthaul infrastructure with NewPhotonics patented technologies and its photonics integrated chip (PIC) for all-optics communication and optical fabric switching.

Two of this collaboration's critical missions are to help reduce power and increase capacity.

By focusing on ways to improve the performance of GPU/CPU/switch fabric with PIC and low-latency optical connectivity, the technology will also address power consumption and capacity bottlenecks in AI cluster workloads based on high-speed optical communication and optical switching technology. NewPhotonics’ optical SerDes (serializer/deserializer) will enable higher density and low-latency data transfer in mobile fronthaul and the data center. 

Co-packaged advanced optical technologies have proven to deliver improved speed and energy efficiency, crucial in data center re-designs underway for high-performance compute and vector processing applications.

Also, the LPO technology realized by incorporating the NewPhotonics PIC into the optical transceiver enables longer-distance transmission than existing LPO technology. Applying NewPhotonics LPO technology to mobile fronthaul is expected to reduce processing delays, reduce power consumption, and extend the distances of data transport equipment.  

Ryuji Wakikawa, Head of SoftBank Research Institute of Advanced Technology, said that through this collaboration, “we envision a transformation in AI data center and mobile fronthaul infrastructure with optical-electronics convergence technologies that enhances speed, distance limit, capacity, and, most importantly, leads to sustainability.”

LPO has been gaining momentum.

The LPO MSA (Linear Pluggable Optics Multi-Source Agreement) Group recently achieved interoperability testing of network equipment leveraging LPO links. 

During the interop event, group members tested 400 Gbps and 800 Gbps parallel single-mode links, targeting the industry-wide challenge of reducing power, cost, and latency while improving the reliability of high-speed optical interconnects in AI/ML applications.

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