Infraeo has announced the launch of a 9-meter 800G Octal Small Form-factor Pluggable (OSFP) Active Electrical Cable (AEC), expanding its Hairtail+ product line targeting high-speed, long-reach copper connectivity for artificial intelligence (AI) and data center networks. Infraeo claims this solution sets a new performance standard by delivering optical-grade reach and signal integrity for copper connections at a reduced cost.

The new 9-meter AEC integrates retimer digital signal processor (DSP) technology to enable low-latency, high-integrity 800G signaling over distances traditionally requiring optical interconnects. According to Infraeo, this design achieves a pre-Forward Error Correction (FEC) bit error rate (BER) better than 1E-8 across the full cable length. The Hairtail+ product family, which previously included a 7-meter 800G AEC, is designed to offer error-free copper connectivity options that compete with optical alternatives.

The 800G OSFP AEC family is available in several configurations to support different data center system architectures, including OSFP-FT to OSFP-FT, OSFP-FT to two OSFP right-hand side (RHS), and OSFP-FT to two QSFP112 variants. This flexibility aims to address deployment needs in AI cluster environments and data center infrastructure with high-density, multi-rack architectures.

“AI clusters see the benefit of copper interconnects and are now looking to span across several racks,” said Rakesh Sambaraju, EVP at Infraeo. “Our 7-meter AEC already delivers error-free performance, and the 9-meter version extends that capability even further. Retimer DSP technology has come a long way, and by combining high-performance DSP with Infraeo’s proprietary signal integrity and cable assembly technology, we’ve created a cost-effective, high-performance alternative to optics, purpose-built for next-generation AI data centers.”

Source: Infraeo