Hyperscalers are no longer just customers—they’re setting the pace for the entire optical networking industry. The rapid leap from 400G to 800G and now to 1.6T solutions underscores an industry in overdrive, racing to meet the demands of AI and cloud-scale data movement. Behind the scenes, signaling is pushing into the realm of 448G per lane, unlocking the next frontier—3.2T optical links that will reshape what’s possible in high-performance networks. From energy-aware design to breakthroughs in silicon photonics, innovation continues at a blistering pace, driven by the need to build networks that are not only faster, but fundamentally more capable. Be sure to check out the interviews and demos in our showcase for insights from the industry’s thought leaders!
2025 OFC
Watch the videos below captured on the show floor at OFC 2025, and check out our recent reports. Download a bundle of our latest 2024-2025 reports (SASE, Carrier and Campus NaaS, AI in Networking) plus the LATEST edition of our Data Center Networking for AI and Cloud report (likely of interest to you if you were at OFC).
Optical Fiber Conference 2025
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Highlights from OFC 2025
Views expressed are those of the presenting individuals and companies and may not necessarily represent views of Converge! Network Digest or AvidThink.
From 400G to 1.6T and Up
Tom Williams, VP, Marketing at Acacia , outlines the progression of coherent optics from 400 ZR to 800 ZR/ZR+, highlighting the development of 1.6T standards that will be introduced in the next few years. The technology’s expansion beyond DCI metro applications through OpenZR+ and Open ROADM models has led to broader adoption, with ZR/ZR+ optics now accounting for over 50% of coherent ports industry-wide.
Faster Cadence - Moving to 200G/Lane and Faster
Tom Williams, VP, Marketing at Acacia , introduces their new silicon photonic Optical Engine product family designed to support AI infrastructure with 200Gig per lane capabilities across multiple applications. The company’s development of a 1.6T PAM4 DSP demonstrates their expansion into data center markets while focusing on power efficiency and enhanced network performance.
Scaling the AI Backbone from 400G to 3.2T
Senior Director and Business Lead Gilles Garcia from AMD outlines how hyperscalers’ demands are accelerating optical networking innovation, pushing speeds from 400G to 800G and beyond. At OFC, AMD showcases its 400G OTN solutions and 800G capabilities while providing technology blocks and reference designs to help customers adapt to network evolution.
Copper Replacing Fiber in AI Data Centers?
Don Barnetson, SVP & Head of Product at Credo, explains how liquid cooling has shortened data center connectivity needs to 1-2 meters, enabling new copper-based solutions. His company’s 800G zero flap Active Electrical Cables are replacing optical alternatives in hyperscale environments, delivering better reliability and significant power savings that can be redirected to GPU operations.
Breaking Records: 448G/Lane Demo with PAM-4
Fabio Pittalà, Product Planner at Keysight Technologies, showcases a high-speed optical transmission system that achieves 448 Gb/s using 224 Gb PAM-4 signaling through specialized signal generation equipment and an electro-absorption modulated laser. The advanced setup integrates 120 GHz bandwidth components and a Digital Communications Analyzer to enable real-time monitoring of signals reaching up to 480 Gb/s.
Next Gen Coherent Pluggables
Rob Shore, Head of Optical Network Marketing at Nokia, outlined major optical networking developments at OFC50, focusing on how AI and data center growth are impacting network operator requirements. He detailed the ongoing importance of embedded coherent engines while highlighting increased adoption of coherent pluggable solutions that deliver extended reach at 800G speeds.
Multi-Vendor Demo: 800ZR, ,400ZR and Multi-Span Optics
Karl Gass, Physical and Link Layer Working Group Optical Vice Chair at OIF, leads a comprehensive demonstration of coherent pluggable optics featuring multiple Ethernet implementations across three simulated data centers. The demonstration incorporates various module vendors, traffic generators, and orchestrators, showcasing interoperable solutions for 100G, 400G, and 800G Ethernet applications using different form factors and line systems.
OIF's Energy-Efficient Interfaces for AI/ML
Nathan Tracy, President of OIF, demonstrates energy-efficient interface solutions including ELSFP modules and inspection equipment at OFC 2025 in San Francisco. His presentation covers architectural implementations for AI/ML data centers and highlights OIF’s commitment to advancing high-density networking solutions, with plans for a 400Gbit workshop in Santa Clara.
Unified Management for Multi-Vendor Optical Networks
Ian Alderdice, Physical and Link Layer Working Group Management Co-Vice Chair at OIF, presents CMIS, a management interface for pluggable modules through three demonstrations showing module support, multi-vendor optical management, and link training optimization. The demonstrations highlight CMIS’ ability to provide standardized monitoring and alarm reporting across different vendor ecosystems, ensuring consistent parameter readings from single router environments to complex multi-vendor setups.
Next-Gen 224G & 448G/Lane Electrical Connectivity
Michael Klempa, Interoperability Working Group Chair at OIF, leads demonstrations of 112G and 224G connectivity solutions while examining requirements for future 448G implementations at OFC 2025. The comprehensive testing includes multi-vendor interoperability across linear and RTLR systems, with analysis of signal characteristics and performance metrics for various connectivity configurations.
Connecting Next-Gen AI | 800G to 3.2T
Raza Khan, Product Marketing Director at Semtech, showcases the company’s power-efficient AI interconnect solutions including 800G LPO with ACC interconnects at OFC. The presentation highlights Semtech’s advancement toward 1.6T and 3.2T capabilities while featuring 50G PON and wireless infrastructure products for 6G applications.
Silicon Photonics Building Blocks: 1.6T Components
Christian Urricariet, Senior Director of Product Marketing, Integrated Photonics Solutions at Intel, presents the company’s latest advancements in silicon photonics at OFC 2025, including their OCI chiplet and 1.6 terabit per second components for pluggable transceivers. Building on their extensive experience in silicon photonics, Intel has achieved significant production milestones with over 8 million transceivers shipped and is expanding their photonic manufacturing capabilities at their New Mexico facility.
AI-Powered Growth: 400G/800G Optics Reshape Infrastructure
Mattias Fridström, Chief Evangelist at Arelion, explains how pluggable optics and AI advancements are improving internet backbone operations through enhanced problem detection and cost-effective solutions. He outlines how Arelion is expanding its network with new routes in the southern United States while comparing the contrasting fiber infrastructure landscapes between Europe and America.
Next-Gen Optical from VCSELs to CPO
Manish Mehta, VP Marketing, Optical Systems Division of Broadcom, presents the company’s optical interconnect advances for AI networks at OFC, including their groundbreaking 200Gbps per lane VCSEL technology and production-ready EML laser solutions. The presentation showcases how Broadcom’s co-packaged optics reduce power usage by 70% while enabling enhanced integration through the Tomahawk 5 Bailly 51T Ethernet switch connected to Thor 2 NIC and XPU-to-switch optical connectivity solutions.
#OFC50 in a Waymo with Adtran: Fiber, AI, and Quantum-Ready Networks
Adtran’s Stephan Rettenberger joined Converge Digest’s Jim Carroll for a 31-minute deep-dive into next-gen optical infrastructure while riding through San Francisco in a Waymo robotaxi.
Lumentum and Marvell Unlock 450G/Lane Speed
Gopalan Iyengar, R&D Optical Engineer at Lumentum, demonstrates Marvell 400G/per lane PAM4 technology operating at 225 Gbaud with Lumentum’s indium phosphide (InP) monolithically-integrated DFB-MZI optical transmitter. The successful demonstration shows clean eye diagrams at 225 PAM-4 gigabaud and 450G/lane speeds, positioning this advancement as a key solution for 3.2T applications.
800G Testing Challenges & Solutions for High-Speed Networks
Anabel Alarcon, Product Line Manager at EXFO and High-Speed Tech Lead at Ethernet Alliance, discusses the advancement of 800G technologies and interconnection solutions at the OFC 2025 booth. She explains how 800 ZR technology enables data transmission up to 120 kilometers for metro internet and data center connections, while highlighting the importance of thorough testing and thermal management as AI applications drive cooling requirements.
Stress Testing 1.6T for AI/ML
Asim Rasheed, Product Manager for High Speed Ethernet at Spirent, demonstrates advanced Ethernet technologies including 1.6T transmission and the upcoming Ultra Ethernet Transport standard. The presentation showcases Spirent’s latest solutions for high-performance testing while highlighting their role as an independent test vendor enabling objective technology comparisons across the industry.
Next-Gen Switching: Co-Packaged Optics vs. Co-Packaged Copper
George Hervey, Principal Architect at Marvell, showcases an innovative co-packaged copper design for switch trays that enhances passive copper performance through substrate-mounted flyover wires and 224G compatibility. The liquid-cooled solution enables direct XPU ASIC to CPO engine connections and supports large-scale multi-rack compute clusters up to 2,000 nodes with a single switching layer.
Co-Packaged Optics Gains Momentum
Kevin Soukup, SVP and GM of Silicon Photonics at GlobalFoundries, outlines the company’s progress in co-packaged optics technology at OFC 2025, emphasizing their unique advantages in monolithic wafer technology and two-sided testing capabilities. Through strategic partnerships and advanced manufacturing processes, GlobalFoundries is positioning itself as a key player in the CPO market, particularly focusing on data center applications where scale-up networking dominates transmission needs.
Wafer-Scale CPO + Wafer-Scale AI Computing
Hamid Arabzadeh, CEO of Ranovus, details their wafer-scale co-package optics technology that enables optical interfaces across multiple GPUs, delivering significantly higher capacity than traditional solutions. The technology, developed through collaboration with Cerebras and backed by a
DARPA contract, addresses key power and cost challenges while providing superior interconnect capabilities for AI compute platforms.
Hit the Ground Running at 1.6T
Hani Daou, Business Development Manager at Multilane, showcased the industry’s first commercial 200 Gbit per lane BERT system with eight lanes reaching 1.6T throughput at OFC’s 50th anniversary. The system’s impressive bit error rates of 1E minus 8 during live demonstrations position Multilane as a key enabler for partners testing and deploying new 1.6 TB optical transceivers in AI clusters.