Broadcom is advancing rapidly through the next generations of Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) technology, laying the groundwork for scalable, high-density interconnects purpose-built for AI and cloud data centers.
In a recent interview with Converge! Digest, Manish Mehta, Vice President of Marketing for Broadcom’s Optical Systems Division, shared an update on the company’s CPO roadmap, ecosystem partnerships, and upcoming innovations.
A Generational Journey to 200G/lane and Beyond
Broadcom first announced its CPO ambitions in early 2021 with the launch of the “Humboldt” platform, a 25T switch built to validate system-level CPO requirements. That effort culminated in the company’s second-generation 51T Tomahawk 5 “Bailly” switch, now shipping in meaningful production volumes.
“We’ve built out an entire ecosystem—from fiber connectors to sockets and system partners—that enables volume deployment of CPO,” said Mehta. This includes key partners like Corning and Twinstar, who have introduced high-density fiber solutions to meet the precision demands of 64-channel optical engines.
Power, Density, and Reuse: Gen 3 with 200G/lane
The upcoming third-generation CPO solution will support 200G per lane signaling and leverage Broadcom’s existing manufacturing foundation. Gen 3 reuses key packaging and connectivity processes from Gen 2 while doubling the line rate. New developments include faster modulators, photodiodes, and CMOS-based driver and TIA components.
Broadcom claims its CPO design delivers over 3.5x power savings versus traditional pluggable optics—even when compared to lower-power half-retimed solutions. CPO’s 100x integration density advantage is another differentiator, reducing material use while optimizing signal integrity.
Reliability Advances and Laser Disaggregation
Mehta also addressed industry concerns about reliability. Broadcom’s CPO modules are built using standard CMOS and OSAT manufacturing processes, and the optical engines are soldered directly to the ASIC for robust performance. The company has logged over 50,000 hours of system testing at elevated temperatures, showing extremely high reliability.
To enhance maintainability, Broadcom disaggregated the indium phosphide laser source into a separate pluggable module, allowing field replacement without disturbing the soldered optics.
Gen 4 and the 448G Future
While Gen 3 ramps into deployment, Broadcom’s engineering teams are already at work on Gen 4 CPO, targeting 448G signaling and even greater bandwidth density.
“Our goal is to make low-power optical interconnects available for every generation,” said Mehta. “We want to ensure that AI and data center architects are never limited by copper.”
With its deep CPO investment and maturing ecosystem, Broadcom remains at the forefront of next-generation optical interconnects for AI-scale infrastructure.
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