OFC 2025 Looks to the Future with Optical Breakthroughs 

From data center interconnects and energy-efficient optical networks, this year’s show highlighted advances in coherent transmission systems, photonic integration for AI applications, and intelligent network automation that will reshape global connectivity.

The 50^th anniversary edition of the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition reflected the enormous growth and enthusiasm for the future of optical networking and transmission systems. Conference attendance increased from 13,000 in 2024 to nearly 17,000 with participants coming from 83 countries.

This year’s extensive five-day schedule included over 800 tutorials, symposia, short courses, panel discussions, workshops and rump sessions. Subjects addressed in technical white paper presentations included 800G/1.6Tb optical links, advanced optical fiber, linear drive optics, network automation, interoperability, advanced optical materials, power management, quantum computer security, and achieving 400G per wavelength channels. OFC offers an exceptional program of support for students including mentoring, Career Zone, and poster sessions.

The exhibition floor featured 685 global exhibitors, many of which included live demonstrations of the latest test, processing, and transmission of high-performance optical signaling. Approximately 35 connector and cable assembly suppliers, including industry giants Amphenol, Molex, Samtec, and TE Connectivity, participated on the exhibition floor.

OFC is unique in that the entire ecosystem of optical technology and component suppliers, from chip design and fabrication to rack-level systems, is represented at this conference. Attendees can learn about advances at every level of optical communication technology and gain a holistic perspective to provide guidance for their next generation products. Understanding what new technology will be available next year provides direction to engineers trying to “future proof” their products. Echoing the underlying theme of massive connectivity, 400G and 800G pluggable optical transceivers were prominently displayed by many suppliers. Although primarily focused on optical transmission technology, many suppliers exhibited high-performance electrical connectors and cable assemblies to complement their optical product lines.

Several broad trends were evident throughout the 2025 OFC conference:

• Billions are being spent on the construction of new data centers that are focused on AI applications. Demand for scalable connectivity in computer clusters designed for artificial intelligence applications is driving rapid advances in every level of communication systems. Connectivity is seen as an enabler of rapid innovation.
• AI systems will use copper cables, both passive and active, where they can provide acceptable performance and reach. Optical cables will be used where longer distance, high-capacity links are required. Cable and connector suppliers provide both copper and fiber connectors and cable assemblies to allow optimized choices for each application.
• Reducing power density continues to dominate new system design, as single AI racks can consume 150 kW of power, and this is expected to continue increasing at unsustainable rates. Some current GPUs delivering 4,614 teraflops of performance draw 1200 watts each. New data center location selection is often based on the ability of the local grid to support its massive energy demand. Suppliers continue to develop devices that consume less power than the prior generation, but the total power consumed at the system level continues to rise. Traditional forced air cooling is no longer capable of supporting key AI components. Cold-plate technology appears to be the short-term solution, with immersion cooling a likely future option. Both were demonstrated on the exhibit floor.
• As was discussed at DesignCon 2025 in January, current PAM4 modulation will likely require upgrading to PAM6 or PAM8 as channel data rates continue to increase.
• Photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technology is continuing to mature and will play a key role in the next generation optical networking systems as well as the implementation of co-packaged optics (CPO) technology.
• Optics are becoming pervasive inside the box with the ability to “steer” light from the chip to other points on the board as well as to front panel I/O. Fiber has become the only practical media for interconnecting thousands of GPUs in large AI clusters.
• The rate of technology and new product development has accelerated due to the exploding market for AI services. As a result, design cycle time is becoming shorter. We are currently in a global race to build AI computing capacity. Some concern was expressed that AI has been overly hyped and that the current bubble may soon burst. Several suppliers reported that they have seen some degree of double-booking, but the majority opinion expects exceptional market growth for at least the next two years. As one speaker put it, “AI is not the next big thing, it is already here.”
• 200G per lane channels were demonstrated in multiple booths using PAM4 modulation. Booth representatives speculated that a higher-level modulation may be required to achieve 400G per/lane channels.
• Next-generation network design objectives include reduced power per bit, more wavelengths per fiber, and more bits per wavelength with products brought to market more quickly. Networks and clustered computers must scale up as well as scale out, which is translating to a massive increase in high-speed connectivity. Network design needs to be less complex and quantum secure.
• The inherent complexity of current AI computer networks mandates the implementation of predictive automated network management. Systems that anticipate potential failures and automatically implement fixes instantly are required to assure availability of service and security.
• 800G LPO OSFP pluggable transceivers were demonstrated by multipole suppliers. 1.6 Tb pluggables were the subject of seminars and are in development.
• On chip and near chip interconnects for CPO applications were prominently displayed at multiple vendor booths. The recent announcement that Nvidia will be using CPO technology in several next generation switches has energized suppliers of components who see CPO as the wave of the future in high-performance computing systems.
• Quantum computing is moving closer to commercial application, as 2025 has been proclaimed the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology by the United Nations. Higher level error correction and extreme equipment environmental requirement issues remain to be resolved. Photonic networks are expected to play a major role in the evolution of quantum computers.

• Optical fiber vendors demonstrated their latest performance advances in attenuation, bend resistance, and cable construction. Interest is growing in hollow core fiber in applications where reduced attenuation and increased reach are critical. Hollow core fiber also offers some reduction in signal distortion found in traditional glass and plastic fiber.
• Several suppliers promoted multicore fiber as a solution to increasing fiber capacity. Both fiber types are costly, and present challenges in the termination process.
• The critical role that material science will play in the development of materials that will enable continuing advances in high-performance computing was evident at many booths.

Discussions with representatives on the exhibition floor revealed many new product introductions.

• Ayar Labs showed a Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express module with 8Tb/s bandwidth that addresses the data bottleneck seen in AI systems. Using silicon photonics based on CMOS manufacturing processes, power consumption and latency are minimized.
• Casela Technologies launched the ELSA-16 pluggable 16-channel External Laser Source platform for use in co-packaged optics AI applications.

• The LPO MSA released a new specification for 100G per lane linear pluggable optics targeting single-mode optical data transmission for up to 800G Ethernet connectivity and is expected to accelerate the adoption of LPO pluggables in production products. Work is underway to develop 200G per lane linear implementations.
• Hyper Photonix demonstrated an 800G optical transceiver that can be directly connected to FUJIKURA multi-core fiber with two duplex LC connectors.
• Lessengers introduced a 1.6Tb OSFP 2 X SR4 optical transceiver using its patented direct optical wiring (DOW) technology.
• ALOE Semiconductor demonstrated the first OSFP transceiver utilizing dual polarization and bi-directional technologies. DP-BiDi-PAM4 technology is said to increase fiber capacity by 4X in short reach applications.
• Thirty-five members of the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) and the Ethernet Alliance demonstrated the future of optical and electrical networking for AI, cloud, and disaggregated architectures. Their booth included 800G pluggable coherent optics, a Common Electrical I/O (CEI)-448G, 224G, and 112G, and CMIS plug-and-play interoperability. OIF is also defining both 1600ZR and 1600ZR+ coherent standards. The overall theme of the booth promoted interoperability in next-generation networks.
• The extreme concern generated by the announcement of Chinese DeepSeek AI that rocked attendees at the January 2025 DesignCon conference has settled down. Opinions now center around some emulation of DeepSeek software and recognition of security concerns related to Chinese government access. At this point, DeepSeek is seen as having limited impact on U.S. design of AI computer architecture. The race to massive AI computer clusters continues.

Although the products of major connector suppliers, including Amphenol, Molex, Samtec, and TE Connectivity, have historically been designed for electrical circuits, their OFC booths featured a mix of their latest copper and expanding lines of fiber optic interfaces.

Amphenol CS demonstrated a 1.6 Tb, 8 X 200G PAM4 OSFP pluggable transceiver for up to 3-meter active electrical cable (AEC) applications.

Another demonstration showcased linear optical transceivers for PCIe 5.0 over optic applications.

Prolabs, another Amphenol acquisition, showed its extensive lines of DACs and AOC cable assemblies as well as optical transceivers.

Recognizing the necessity of detecting a liquid cooling leak in a computer before major damage occurs, Amphenol has introduced a low-cost leakage detection sensor cable.

Molex used OFC 2025 to introduce the new VersaBeam EBO single- and multi-mode push-pull optical connector. Based on the proven 3M ferrule, the VersaBeam connector utilizes expanded beam technology that greatly reduces the need to clean and inspect the optic interface. The connector can terminate 12, 16, and 144 fibers to provide exceptional fiber density and ease of creating breakout assemblies. Additional sources include 3M, CommScope, Sumitomo, USCONEC, and Senko.

The genderless Molex Inception backplane connector is rated to 224 Gb/s PAM4 and is an ideal choice for emerging cable backplane applications.

Molex also demonstrated a circulating liquid cold-plate cooling system designed for pluggable external CPO laser applications.

The Samtec booth featured multiple advanced copper and fiber optic interconnect solutions designed for near and on-chip co-package applications at data rates of up to 224 Gb/s PAM4.

One display introduced the new Si-Fly HD® co-packaged cable assemblies using Symtec’s Si-Fly HD near-chip pluggable connectors running at 224 Gb/s. These high-density connectors provide 170 differential pairs per square inch density and are available in 4, 6, and 8 row configurations.

Another live product demonstration featured six Samtec connector systems, including board-to-board connectors and Flyover® cable systems, operating at PCIe® 7.0 data rates.

The BullsEye® 1 mm test point connector is rated to 90 GHz and is an integral part of the Samtec ISI Evaluation Board, which can be used to test 224 Gb/s PAM4 channels and provide a pathway to 448 Gb/s performance

The new FireBlade® OCP OAI EXP Module features 16 25Gb X 4 FireFly optical transceivers to deliver 1.6 Tb throughput. Each FireFly transceiver is terminated to a US Conec MMC optical connector to achieve a 4X faceplate density over standard MTP connectors. This module consumes 50% less power and supports Ethernet, PCIe, and CXL over optics.

TE Connectivity featured a broad range of copper and fiber optic interfaces. A recent addition to the company’s line of optical pluggable connectors is a 1.6 Tb OSFP 224 DR8 optical transceiver designed for Ethernet and InfiniBand applications.

TE also showed an OSFP-XD LPO optical transceiver designed for PCIe Gen 6 connectivity.

A large model illustrated how CPO twinaxial cables can be implemented to support front panel pluggable I/O and rear panel cable backplanes.

The TE booth displayed several thermal management options including the Thermal Bridge with an integrated liquid cooled cold plate, as well as a large liquid cooled busbar.

Increasing interest in cable backplanes has resulted in the development of modular designs that manage the interconnecting cables within a steel cage assembly.

OFC continues to be the premier conference and exhibition of leading-edge optical network technology and products.

The exponential growth of AI has put optical data transmission technology on an unprecedented trajectory of growth which is expected to continue for years into the future.

OFC 2026 will be returning to Los Angeles next year and will be held March 15-19, 2026.

Visit Bob Hult’s Connector Supplier archive for more high-speed coverage, his Tech Trends series, and show reports.

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