OIF highlights AI optical interconnect work
OIF will showcase its latest work on high-speed electrical and optical interfaces for AI infrastructure at two industry events in October.
At the Ethernet Alliance Technology Exploration Forum (TEF) 2026, OIF experts will participate in discussions covering 448G electrical signalling, AI optical interconnects, coherent optics, and test and measurement.
The sessions will address the challenges of developing interoperable technologies as AI infrastructure places increasing demands on bandwidth, power efficiency and system scalability.
OIF will also host a half-day workshop at the OCP Global Summit on October 13, bringing together industry experts to examine technologies needed for open, scalable and sustainable AI infrastructure.
Topics will include 448G-per-lane electrical interfaces, energy-efficient interconnects, coherent optics and optical network management.
The workshop will also explore different approaches to optical integration, including near-package optics (NPO), co-packaged optics (CPO) and retimed transmitter linear receiver (RTLR) architectures.
Discussions will consider how these technologies can address the increasing connectivity requirements of AI systems, from package-level interfaces through to data-centre interconnects.
Interoperability will be another key focus, with OIF highlighting the importance of multi-vendor solutions as AI infrastructure becomes increasingly complex. The organisation said its work is aimed at supporting common electrical, optical and management interfaces that can scale with evolving AI architectures.
The events will bring together representatives from network operators, system and component suppliers, and test equipment companies to discuss the development and deployment of next-generation interconnect technologies.
