Cisco

Groq

Groq is a California-based fabless chip designer that focuses on designing chips for developers and enterprises to deliver AI inference. Groq is known for designing the Language Processing Unit (LPU), a novel architecture purpose-built to accelerate AI inference.

NVIDIA: Telecommunications

NVIDIA is a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) and accelerated computing that is becoming an important technology partner in the telecommunications industry. While it does not provide traditional network equipment, NVIDIA supports telecom operators through AI infrastructure, automation tools, and simulation technologies that enable more efficient, software-defined networks. This company profile explores NVIDIA's position, partnerships, and activities within the telecom space.

The Packaging Technologies Behind NVIDIA's 3D-Stacked CPO

At GTC 2025, NVIDIA announced two new networking switch platforms - Spectrum-X Photonics and Quantum-X Photonics - based on Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) technology. Both platforms incorporate TSMC's 3D hybrid bonding technology for its CPO, and these will be the world's first 3D-stacked silicon photonics engine.

Google: Optical Circuit Switches and Data Center Fabrics

At Microtech Ventures' 2024 Microfab Summit Dr. Kevin Yasumura, Principal Engineer and Technical Lead for MEMS and Optical Switching Development at Google, spoke about the tech giant's Lightwave Fabric architecture for data centers. This talk focused on Google's optical circuit switches and its role in this architecture.

University of Washington: Vikram Iyer Group

IDTechEx spoke to Vikram Iyer, Assistant Professor at the University of Washington. His research group has developed a new printed circuit board, which enables recycling of both circuit components and the circuit substrate.

Co-Packaged Optics (CPO): Evaluating Different Packaging Technologies

The rise of co-packaged optics is transforming modern data centers and high-performance networks by addressing critical challenges such as bandwidth density, energy efficiency, and scalability. CPO enhances interconnect bandwidth and energy efficiency by integrating optics and electronics within a single package, significantly shortening electrical link lengths.

Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) Market Outlook & Packaging Technology Trends

Over the past decade, the capacity of data center Ethernet switches has surged from 0.64 Tbps to 25.6 Tbps, driven by the adoption of 64x400 Gbps or 32x800 Gbps pluggable optical transceiver modules. However, these high-speed modules, within their current form factors, pose significant challenges. Issues include the required densities of electrical and optical connectors, as well as escalating power consumption.

PIC-Based Transceivers Roadmap

Innovation map for photonic integrated circuits-based (PIC-based) transceivers.

nu quantum

nu quantum is a spin-out from the University of Cambridge 'building the entanglement fabric essential to scaling quantum computers'.