Alphawave Semi and InnoLight collaborate on linear pluggable optics
The companies demonstrated low-power, low-latency linear pluggable optics together with a complete PCIe 6.0 subsystem at OFC 2024, breaking down barriers to disaggregated networking
Alphawave Semi, a company focusing on high-speed connectivity and compute solutions for the world’s technology infrastructure, has collaborated with datacentre optics company InnoLight Technology, to demonstrate low-power, low-latency linear pluggable optics (LPO) at OFC 2024. Operating at 64G per lane, the demonstration showcased Alphawave Semi’s PCIe 6.0 subsystem (Controller + PHY) with InnoLight’s LPO OSFP optics. The companies say this development is breaking down barriers to disaggregated networking and enabling connectivity at the datacentre scale.
By delivering a complete PCIe 6.0 subsystem, and by collaborating with InnoLight as an industry-leading optics supplier, Alphawave Semi says it is fostering an ecosystem for accelerating the deployment of optical connectivity and memory coherency solutions, which are essential for scaling AI workloads in next-generation datacentre infrastructure.
According to Alphawave Semi, its PCIe Controller + PHY subsystem is an extremely power-efficient, low-latency, and highly reliable interface IP, having been built off the industry’s most successful PAM-4 SerDes IP. The company adds that, in AI and high-performance computing (HPC) systems where memory performance is key, the Alphawave Semi PCIe 6.0 Subsystem can be expanded to support CXL 3.0 with a PCIe and CXL Controller and enable memory coherency at the datacentre level.
InnoLight says it offers a wide range of low-power, low-latency 400G, 800G, and 1.6T LPO solutions for AI workloads at datacentre scale, with a silicon photonics platform, with expected capabilities to support PCIe Gen 6 and beyond optical connectivity. The company adds that it is actively working with the industry ecosystem to promote wide adoption of LPO solutions for AI networking and computing applications.
“We are pleased with the collaboration between Alphawave Semi and InnoLight, which demonstrates PCIe 6.0 optical connectivity that offers both low power consumption and low latency, tailored to meet the demanding requirements of high-bandwidth and high-density AI networks,” said Osa Mok, chief marketing officer at InnoLight. “Alphawave Semi’s PAM-4 DSP physical layer technology, leveraged with InnoLight’s LPO OSFP, empowers hyperscalers to implement next-generation disaggregated, composable networks.”
Tony Chan Carusone, CTO at Alphawave Semi, said: “We see our collaboration with InnoLight as a significant driver for accelerating the adoption of PCIe technology over optics. The combination of InnoLight’s market-leading optical solution with Alphawave Semi’s robust DSP technology showcases how PCIe technology over optics can enable our customers to massively scale connectivity for their compute and data processing AI workloads.”
