Earlier this year, Astera Labs outlined how we’re responding to the demand for low-power, ultra-low-latency, high-density, high-speed links as AI outgrows the rack. We demonstrated our progress toward this goal with a high-radix linear pluggable optics (LPO) demonstration at Computex 2026.
Our flagship event of the year, the OCP Global Summit, has now wrapped up, and it’s the right time to look back at the material progress we’ve made since June and ahead to what we expect to bring to market next.
The picture that emerges across all our 2026 optical demos is a roadmap with clear vision toward purpose-built optical interconnects, from LPO and near-packaged optics (NPO) solutions ready to deploy in early 2027 to high-radix, resilient co-packed optics (CPO) on the horizon.
Silicon Photonics: The Mainstream Path to NPO and CPO
Silicon photonics (SiPh) is the mainstream optical technology for scale-up and scale-out. On October 8, 2026 we launched our very first optical products, the Aries PCIe® Smart Optical Driver and Smart Optical TIA, purpose-built for high density SiPh NPO. These enable optical egress from high-radix switch and compute platforms.
At OCP 2026, we demonstrated our readiness for SiPh scale-up with two NPO demos utilizing our Scorpio™ Smart Fabric Switches.
PCIe over SiPh NPO Demo
- Demonstrated a 50m PCIe 6 optical link with a high-density, x32 SiPh NPO enabled by Scorpio X-Series 320L Smart Fabric Switch.
- In a live demo, successfully showed a PCIe 6 link up with pre-FEC BER better than 1e-10 and excellent RX eyes.
- While this demonstration was at PCIe 6 to match the current generation of Scorpio, this NPO topology is also capable of PCIe 7 performance.
Silicon Photonics NPO Switch Tray Demo
- A mechanical mock-up of a high-radix NPO switch tray featuring 2x Scorpio X-Series 320L Smart Fabric Switches with components from our ecosystem partners at Accton, TE, Molex, Samtec, and Coherent.
- Each Scorpio switch was surrounded by 9x x32 SiPh NPO for a total of 576 lanes.
- The system included a cold plate-cooled 1.5 OU tray and detailed fiber management from NPO to front panel MMC connectors and ELSFP.
VCSEL NPO: Supply Chain-Ready Alternative Path for NPO/CPO
In order to address the constrained supply chain for the indium phosphide lasers that are needed for SiPh NPO, we also created a proof-of-concept demonstration of PCIe over 1060nm 2D array VCSEL NPO. There are no supply chain constraints with VCSELs, which makes them a strong alternative for low-power, high-density NPO and CPO for scale-up.
PCIe Over VCSEL Demo
- Demonstrated a 20m PCIe 5 optical link with a high-density, 1060nm 2D array VCSEL NPO enabled by Scorpio Smart Fabric Switch.
- In a live demo, successfully showed an error-free x8 PCIe 5 link up with excellent RX eyes.
CPO on the Horizon: Building on Learnings from NPO SiPh Deployment
Astera Labs’ CPO technology will build on the learnings from NPO SiPh and high-radix Scorpio development and deployment.
For soldered-down NPO and CPO solutions to be deployable and serviceable at scale, a detachable optical solution is highly desirable. To address this need, Astera Labs has shown technology readiness for high-density, ganged, robust, detachable fiber connectivity for CPO, driven by its acquisition of aiXscale Photonics and ecosystem partnership with US Conec.
Fiber-to-Chip Connectivity for CPO Demo
- We exhibited an example of Astera Labs’ fiber-to-chip coupler technology with precision-molded glass multi-lens array, currently under development.
- This technology is a detachable, ganged connector for high-density CPO, purpose-built for easy plugging and unplugging and deployable at scale.
- Topologies utilizing this fiber-to-chip coupler are scalable to 100T, 200T, and 400T switch architectures.
- These components can be installed by human operators or automated tooling via high-volume system manufacturing.
Total Visibility Across the Whole Portfolio: COSMOS Link Intelligence
As optical connectivity continues to evolve, COSMOS Link Intelligence will provide a unified foundation for managing the full Astera Labs portfolio.
For our optical products in particular, dynamic tuning and end-to-end link management provide a crucial boost to system resiliency. The COSMOS software layer strengthens our expanding optical portfolio and gives hyperscalers the confidence to deploy these solutions at scale.