Molex expanded its co-packaged optics (CPO) interconnect toolkit for AI clusters and introduced a High-Radix Optical Circuit Switch (OCS) Platform, aiming to reduce optical connectivity bottlenecks as GPU fabrics scale. The update spans new backplane connectivity hardware, external-laser optical connector options, and an all-optical switching approach intended to support large, reconfigurable topologies with lower network overhead.
On the cabling and serviceability side, Molex introduced the VersaBeam EBO Backplane Connector. The backplane interface consolidates up to 192 fibers into a single compact connection and is designed to move connectivity onto a pre-configured optical backplane to enable “blind” installation of cards and sleds. Molex says the Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) approach reduces sensitivity to dust and debris, cutting cleaning, inspection, and maintenance needs and reducing deployment time by up to 85%.
Molex also paired the VersaBeam EBO Backplane Connector with the Teramount TeraVERSE detachable fiber connectivity product, describing a modular, separable fiber-to-chip optical path intended to improve serviceability. Molex is collaborating with Teramount to commercialize the TeraVERSE interface, with the goal of enabling a “swappable” architecture that reduces the risk of damaging delicate fiber interfaces and reduces the need for on-site optical expertise.
For higher-density CPO builds, the Molex toolkit includes a Versatile Format Interconnect (VFI) Optical Backplane System and External Laser Source Small Form Factor Pluggable (ELSFP) Optical Connectors. Molex says the enhanced VFI provides up to a 50% density increase. The ELSFP approach moves laser power sources off-chip for CPO connections; Molex says the ELSFP solution is compliant with and licensed under the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) 2.0 CPO standards, and is intended to improve reliability, testing, and deployment.
But the most architectural piece here is the High-Radix OCS Platform. Molex describes it as an all-optical switching fabric that supports dynamic, fiber-level reconfiguration without optical-electrical-optical (O-E-O) conversion, a design choice aimed at reducing power consumption and thermal load while simplifying network architectures. For operators wrestling with scale-up and scale-out fabrics, optical circuit switching can be attractive when you need to reconfigure connectivity without paying an O-E-O penalty on every hop, though the operational value will depend on how the control plane and reconfiguration behavior fits the workload.
Peter Lee, vice president and general manager, Optical Solutions Business Unit at Molex, said, “Our goal is to deliver comprehensive and differentiating optical solutions that support the next generation of AI infrastructure—enabling greater scalability, improved operational efficiency and significantly enhanced energy efficiency as data center networking demands continue to accelerate.” Molex said it has initiated a sampling program for the product line-up ahead of general product availability.
Source: Molex
