News: Optoelectronics
22 March 2024
Ayar Labs showcasing optical interconnect solutions for AI infrastructure at OFC
Silicon photonics-based chip-to-chip optical connectivity firm Ayar Labs of Santa Jose, CA, USA is presenting its latest technology advances and ecosystem partnerships in booth #1511 at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference & Exposition (OFC 2024) in San Diego, CA, USA (24–28 March).
Specifically, Ayar Labs’ optical I/O solution are on display, including a demonstration of the industry’s first CW-WDM MSA-compliant 16-wavelength light source, which can drive 256 optical carriers for 16Tbps of bi-directional bandwidth – a level of bandwidth essential for AI workloads.
“The explosive growth of AI models is breaking the back of existing infrastructure – traditional interconnect technology simply can’t scale to the cost and throughput multi-modal AI systems will require,” says CEO & co-founder Mark Wade. “Our in-package optical I/O solution gives customers the performance and energy efficiency they need as they build out their next-generation AI infrastructure,” he adds. “We’re pleased to showcase this innovation alongside several ecosystem partners at OFC.”
As the complexity and size of AI models increase, traditional interconnect technology creates data bottlenecks that force GPUs and other accelerators to sit idle, limiting compute performance, increasing power consumption, and driving up costs. Ayar Labs says that its optical I/O solution, which includes the SuperNova light source, eliminates these bottlenecks, enabling customers to maximize the compute efficiency and performance of their AI infrastructure while lowering costs, latency and power consumption.
Only one year after introducing the industry’s first 4Tbps optical solution, Ayar Labs is now unveiling the second generation of SuperNova, which powers the company’s TeraPHY optical I/O chiplet and enables what is claimed to be an unrivaled 16Tbps of bi-directional bandwidth. Compliant with the CW-WDM MSA specification, the 16-wavelength light source offers compact packaging, operates at wide temperature ranges, and can supply light for 256 data channels, making it capable of handling the significantly higher throughput required for the massive growth in AI applications.
Ayar Labs says that it continues to bring together a robust ecosystem to streamline the integration of optical I/O into AI systems and ensure commercial readiness at scale. The firm is working with several industry leaders to demonstrate the value that optical solutions deliver for AI applications. Ayar Labs is highlighting two examples at OFC:
- Corning Glass Waveguide Module: Ayar Labs and Corning Inc have teamed up to develop a next-generation AI advance, by coupling Ayar Labs’ TeraPHY optical I/O chiplets with Corning’s glass waveguide module, bringing advanced optical capabilities to the AI ecosystem. Ericsson is partnering with Ayar Labs and Corning in this AI-driven solution as part of their technology exploration for future mobile systems. This joint innovation is being shown at Ayar Labs’ booth. Together, they are highlighting how the technologies create future-ready, AI-enabled innovations.
- Teramount TeraVERSE Detachable Connector: Teramount and Ayar Labs are showcasing a concept for the next-generation TeraVERSE detachable connector to meet the infrastructure demands of next-generation AI. The detachable fiber connectivity solution features wideband surface coupling, what is claimed to be industry-leading bandwidth density, and detachability for reliable semiconductor-grade volume manufacturing of co-packaged optics and in-package optical I/O for AI. Wideband surface coupling offers high bandwidth density with negligible loss-related wavelength dependency, resulting in less lasers, power and fibers needed compared with grating coupler solutions.
Ayar demos first 4Tbps optical solution, paving way for next-gen AI and data-center designs
