Mixx launches high-density CPO connector
Mixx Technologies has introduced the SxC™ Connector, targeting the fibre-density and connectivity challenges emerging as co-packaged optics and high-radix AI networks scale.
Mixx Technologies has launched the SxC™ Connector, an expanded-beam optical connector designed for front-plane and backplane applications in AI infrastructure. The company says the connector can terminate up to 24,576 fibres within a single OCP rack unit, addressing the growing fibre-density requirements of co-packaged optics (CPO) and other optical I/O architectures.
As optical engines move closer to switching and compute silicon, increasing optical channel counts are creating new challenges at the system boundary. Mixx argues that while CPO can increase optical bandwidth inside a system, the fibre interface can become a constraint when thousands of optical channels need to be routed to the front panel or backplane.
The SxC connector supports up to 64 fibres per connector and can accommodate single-mode fibre (SMF) and polarisation-maintaining fibre (PMF). Mixx says sixteen connectors can be grouped into a backplane bulkhead to terminate 1,024 fibres in less than 800mm², while 24 bulkheads could provide 24,576 fibres within one OCP rack unit.
The connector uses an expanded-beam architecture and a glass ferrule, which Mixx says is designed to support the higher optical power associated with remote laser architectures and future multi-wavelength systems.
The company is a member of the Expanded Beam Optics Multi-Source Agreement (EBO MSA), which is developing specifications for expanded-beam optical connectors.
Mixx is also targeting manufacturing scalability. Rather than assembling ferrules through conventional individual fibre placement and active optical alignment, the company says its optical structures are fabricated using a wafer-scale process incorporating free-form optics, three-dimensional waveguides and two-dimensional fibre holes.
The approach is intended to support higher-density fibre arrays while reducing manufacturing complexity. Mixx is also developing robotic fibre assembly and automated visual inspection, alongside passive fibre attachment to reduce reliance on active alignment.
The company says the same core connector technology can be used across the optical signal chain, including the optical engine, external laser source, backplane and front panel.
Mixx will demonstrate the SxC Connector at SEMICON Taiwan from September 2, with the company positioning the technology as an enabling interface for higher-radix optical systems and future CPO deployments.
