TE News: TE Connectivity enabling the next wave of optical to cloud at OFC 2023

SAN DIEGO – March 8, 2023 – TE Connectivity (TE), a world leader in connectors and sensors, will showcase a broad range of industry-leading optical high-speed data communications connectivity solutions in booth 6035 at the OFC 2023 expo on March 7-9, at the San Diego Convention Center. TE offers a vast spectrum of notable, ultra-compact solutions engineered to help optimize the latest data center, edge and telecommunications innovations, delivering the next generation of speed, scalability, space-savings, improved thermals, power and reach that may be needed in an industry moving toward massive next-generation growth.

“High-speed connectivity and increasing degrees of disaggregation trends are creating demand for improved connectivity solutions within data centers. High-speed interconnect solutions, power efficiency and thermal management are all hallmarks TE Connectivity’s products,” said Mike Tryson, VP & CTO, Data & Devices. “We’re looking forward to OFC 2023, where we’ll demonstrate our AOC, AEC, and supporting interconnect solutions that are enabling our data center customers to reach next-level data rates.”

TE’s live and static displays will demonstrate how TE is paving the way to meet the technology demands for next-generation products and architectures. TE will showcase its innovative solutions in the following booths:

• TE Connectivity – Booth #6035
• Broadcom – Booth #6425
• Ethernet Alliance – Booth #5417
• Intel – Booth #2901
• MACOM – Booth #3927
• Marvell – Booth #4326
• Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) – Booth #5101
• SEMTECH – Booth #5417
• Spirent – Booth #5304

TE’s featured live demos will include:

800G QSFP-DD active optical cables (AOC)

The 800G quad small form-factor pluggable double density (QSFP-DD) AOC live demo showcases TE’s 800 Gbps optical data link using an IEEE 802.3df 800GBASE-SR8 AOC in QSFP-DD form factor running live 8x112G traffic end-to-end. The AOC uses low-cost multimode optics and low power electronics, resulting in a per end power consumption below 14W. Initial beta product sampling is available now.

800G active cable technologies

The 800G active copper cable (ACC) and active electrical cable (AEC) demonstrate the latest in TE’s bulk cable and termination technology. A retimer or redriver embedded in the module extends the reach of copper cables while consuming less power than equivalent optical cables. AEC/ACC technology also enables fine wire gauges for short links to ease routing challenges in dense next-gen racks. This live demo shows eight lanes of 112G PAM-4 data running through TE’s AEC/ACC with a host trace and connector on each side.

Thermal Bridge – improved thermal management

The thermal bridge demo presents a new technology for efficiently transferring heat across a gap of variable size, while helping to minimize the force applied to surrounding components. TE’s demo displays thermal bridge and thermal interface materials (TIM) thermal resistances in real time, while allowing adjustment of the thermal bridge height as heat is transferred between a heat source and cooling solution.

224G architectures enabling AI, networking

Increases in bandwidth density and adoption of higher speed protocols are putting constraints on switch and AI accelerator architectures. Cabling high speed signal from input/output (I/O) ports or backplane to near-chip can help relieve some of those constraints. TE’s 224 Gbps AdrenaLINE Catapult near-chip connector enables such architectures for over-the-board (OTB) pluggable I/O ports as well as cabled backplane connectors including TE’s AdrenaLINE Slingshot connector. This new interconnect technology is specifically developed for the challenging 224 Gbps requirements including better insertion loss, return loss and cross-talk, as well as overall interconnect density and height. In the demo, TE is showcasing a 500mm reach cable assembly with approximately 8 dB of interconnect loss with an additional 8 dB of test fixture loss. The demo is being driven by Intel’s 224 Gbps PAM4-LR transceiver, which will be used in next-generation Intel products, including FPGAs.

1.6Tb OSFP 224 Gbps passive copper cable

With ever increasing channel data rates now headed to 224 Gbps (PAM-4), this is pushing the limits of what lengths can be achieved in a passive cable. In a joint effort with Intel’s 224 Gbps PAM4-LR transceiver, TE and Intel are demonstrating an octal small form factor pluggable (OSFP) 224G passive direct attach cable (DAC). Utilizing TE’s latest cable technologies and OSFP connector design along with advanced termination techniques and advanced PCB laminates, TE and Intel are demonstrating that 224G (PAM-4) based 1.6Tb can be achieved.

112G over-the-board to 3.2 Tbps co-packaged copper

TE’s OTB cabling system is comprised of TE’s OIF compliant co-packaged copper module mated to TE’s OIF compliant microLGA fine pitch socket technology. This co-packaged copper module & socket solution that is soon to be published by OIF as an industry standard solution, provides 32 lanes, each at 112 Gbps, for an aggregate bandwidth of 3.2 Tbps per module helping to enable a variety of next generation applications in networking switching, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and compute. In this demonstration, the co-packaged copper module is cabled to 4 ports of quad small form-factor pluggable double density (QSFP-DD) OTB, however connection in other applications such as to backplane connectors is possible as well. TE’s low loss OTB products can help system engineers meet their required channel performance in comparison to traditional PCB trace routed architectures. Also shown is TE’s 112 Gbps side stack mezzanine connector enabling low profile host connectivity of the ASICs on HDI (high density interconnection) daughter boards.

TE takes industry leadership seriously and that is on display at OFC 2023 where TE’s role in industry forums and consortia is evident by TE’s presence in the Ethernet Alliance and OIF booths and technology demos. TE is supporting those efforts with vital technology solutions displaying leading edge performance. In the Ethernet Alliance demos (booth #5417), TE has provided 400G and 800G optical and copper interconnect solutions, including multiple industry formfactors such as OSFP and QSFP-DD. In OIF booth #5101, TE is enabling co-packaging architectures featuring TE’s microLGA sockets, co-package copper OTB cables and the external laser ELSFP formfactor. TE plays a key role in the CMIS demo by providing CMIS capable AOCs and copper cables. Finally, in the OIF CEI electrical demos, TE provides next generation 800 Gbps and 1.6 Tbps OSFPand QSFP-DD connectors as well as optical and copper cable assemblies. In addition, TE plays a key role in OIF’s panel discussions on the show floor theaters on March 8 and 9.

TE’s innovative solutions will also be displayed across its partner booths. Broadcom (booth #6425) will showcase TE’s 800G AEC technology. Intel (booth #2901) will demonstrate TE’s 1.6Tb 224 Gbps OSFP connector and DAC technology. MACOM (booth #3927) will display TE’s 800G ACC technology. Marvell’s exhibit (booth #4326) will include TE’s 800G AEC technology. SEMTECH (booth #5417) will feature TE’s 800G ACC technology. And Spirent (booth #5304) will highlight TE’s 800G DAC technology in their demonstration.

Learn more about TE’s innovative products and solutions and schedule a meeting with one of its experts via TE’s OFC 2023 event page.