Coherent announced enhancements to its multi-rail optical transport platform designed to support the growing bandwidth demands of AI-driven networks. The update combines the company’s compact multi-rail architecture with its Datacenter Interconnect (DCI) transceiver portfolio to increase transport capacity and energy efficiency for large-scale AI and data center networks.
The upgraded platform enables four C+L band optical transport rails within a single 1RU in-line amplifier (ILA) card. Coherent said the design pools transport resources to improve system-level power efficiency while increasing the amount of capacity that can be delivered within the same equipment footprint. The architecture relies on several of the company’s proprietary optical components, including multi-port 980nm pump lasers, octal dynamic gain equalizers, multi-port optical channel monitors, compact OTDR modules, and advanced specialty fiber technologies.
Coherent’s DCI portfolio complements the multi-rail platform with optical transceivers supporting 100G, 400G, and 800G data rates for hyperscale and carrier-class deployments. The company recently qualified a 100G-ZR bi-directional module designed to maximize existing fiber utilization in metro and regional networks. Coherent also expanded production of its nano-Integrated Tunable Laser Assembly (nano-ITLA), which delivers high optical output power with narrow linewidth for coherent transport systems. A live demonstration of the multi-rail platform paired with 800G-ZR DCI modules will take place at OFC 2026 in Los Angeles.
- Four C+L band optical transport rails integrated in a single 1RU ILA card
- Multi-rail architecture designed to improve system power efficiency and capacity density
- Utilizes multi-port 980nm pump lasers and octal dynamic gain equalizers
- Integrated OTDR and multi-port optical channel monitoring for system diagnostics
- DCI transceiver portfolio includes 100G, 400G, and 800G solutions
- Recently qualified 100G-ZR BiDi module for efficient metro and regional connectivity
- Expanded production of nano-ITLA tunable laser assemblies
“AI traffic growth is fundamentally reshaping optical transport system architecture,” said Sunny Sun, Executive Vice President – Communications at Coherent.
🌐 Analysis
The concept of “scale-across” networking is emerging as a key architectural layer for large AI deployments. While scale-up networks connect accelerators within a cluster and scale-out networks link clusters across a fabric, scale-across transport provides high-capacity optical connectivity between AI data centers and regional compute facilities. Technologies such as Coherent’s multi-rail optical transport platform target these long-haul and metro interconnect requirements, where capacity density and power efficiency become critical as AI workloads expand geographically.
Coherent occupies a unique position in the optical ecosystem with vertically integrated capabilities spanning materials, lasers, optical components, and subsystem platforms. By combining transport optics, amplifier technology, and coherent DCI modules, the company is positioning its portfolio for hyperscaler AI interconnect infrastructure as well as traditional telecom networks. The integration of 800G-class DCI optics with multi-rail transport architectures reflects the broader industry shift toward higher-capacity C+L band systems to support rapidly growing AI traffic flows.
