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Co-packaged optics gets Version 1.0 specs from the 60-member APC as optical parts sell out; the 2029 roadmap target is 1,024 logical interfaces per package, but interoperability is unproven.
2 min readAI-assisted
The five APC Version 1.0 documents published Oct. 20, as shown on the coalition's press release page.
Image: Advanced Photonics Coalition
Source · Press image from the Advanced Photonics Coalition newsroom, used for news reporting.
The Advanced Photonics Coalition (APC) published five Version 1.0 specifications on Oct. 20 for co-packaged optics (CPO), silicon photonics and four-core multicore fiber, according to Converge Digest.
The documents were released alongside the Photonic-Enabled Cloud Computing Summit in Sunnyvale and were developed by 60 member organizations. They are available free after registration. The Next Platform reported that the aim is common manufacturing, interface and test practices so suppliers can scale volume.
The consequence for AI infrastructure is supply-chain coordination. Optical parts are tight: The Next Platform relayed Lumentum's statement to Bloomberg this month that its optical components are sold out through 2029. Shared interfaces let more suppliers qualify parts for the same package, which matters as copper reach shrinks and operators look to optics for lower power per bit. Voltgrid News reported earlier on CoolIT and Stäubli's liquid cooling for pluggable OSFP optics.
The multicore fiber specification fixes four single-mode cores in a 125 µm cladding at a 40 µm nominal core pitch. Converge Digest lists attenuation of 0.4 dB/km or less at 1310 nm and intercore crosstalk of -40 dB or better over 1 km. Mated-pair connector loss is capped at 0.35 dB for single-fiber and 0.50 dB for multifiber connectors. The focus is 500 m and 2 km data-center links.
The silicon photonics manufacturing specification covers coupling types, packaging clearances and a shared file format for exchanging optical-field data between modeling tools. Its design targets are coupling loss of 1.5 dB or less for high-performance parts and 3.0 dB or less for standard parts.
APC's architecture roadmap targets 1,024 logical optical interfaces per package in 2029, up from 64 in 2026; these are roadmap targets, not shipping products.
Illustration (AI-generated)
The architecture overview sets a roadmap from 64 logical optical interfaces per package in 2026 to 1,024 in 2029. One logical interface is one fiber lane at one wavelength. These are roadmap targets, not shipping products. A separate outlook document covers power, cooling and serviceability, and a test guide defines four test insertions from wafer to packaged device.
Publication does not make CPO products from different vendors interchangeable, Converge Digest noted. The test guide leaves device-specific probe setups and pass/fail criteria to future releases, and a connector interoperability addendum for the wavelength-division multiplexing phase is still to come.
The 2029 figure depends on further work on lasers, multiplexers, connectors and test qualification. Watch for APC's next releases and for the first multivendor CPO products that claim conformance.
