Enabling Optical Connectivity in AI/ML System Topologies
It’s the unoffical start of summer 2025. Students are getting out of school. Families are planning vacations and holidays. Full-time workers are looking for a break from their day-to-day jobs. Some are looking for new experiences.
What does that have to do with AI/ML system topologies, you may wonder? Well, there is a lot of “new” in the always evolving AI/ML hardware ecosystem: new LLMs, new accelerators, new system topologies, new memory implementations, new power delivery schemes . . . You get the idea.
All this innovation in AI/ML hardware drives what is becoming a constant need: scaling GPUs and other AI accelerators to handle the latest and largest LLMs. Linking those GPUs at scale requires optical connectivity. And that, dear reader, is where Samtec comes in.
FireBlade™ FireFly™ OCP OAI EXP Module
Samtec has a long history of creating optical transceivers for a range of applications. The new Samtec FireBlade™ FireFly™ OCP OAI EXP Module builds on that legacy.
The new module incorporates up to sixteen 25 Gbps x 4 Samtec FireFly™ optical transceivers offering 1.6 Tbps aggregate throughput. The module supports Data Center, HPC, and FPGA-to-FPGA protocols including Ethernet, InfiniBand™, Fibre Channel, PCI Express®, and CXL®.
Samtec demonstrated the performance of the new system at a recent tradeshow. Each lane on the demo supports 28 Gbps NRZ data rates with a BER effectively at zero (e-15). The eye diagrams are also clean and wide open. Notice more demo details in the video below.
One challenge of using front-panel pluggable, MSA-style optical transceivers in AI/ML system topologies is the amount of power consumed. The FireBlade FireFly OCP OAI EXP Module typically requires half the power of MSA-style optics.
The module also maximizes optical channel density. The FireFly OCP OAI EXP Module integrates four MMC 4-Port Adaptors enabling connections to sixteen US Conec MMC optical connectors. This novel appoach provides 3x cabling port density over the MPO format helping achieve expanded fiber density in the EXP module form factor.
Samtec Solutions for AI/ML System Topologies
AI/ML applications are driving new system architectures that demand increased speeds, bandwidths, frequencies, and densities, as well as scalability and configurability. To meet these challenges, Samtec offers a range of connector and cable options ideal for supporting next-generation AI/ML applications such as accelerators for vision systems and array servers; systems and computers on modules; computing platform chipsets; and ultra-low latency products.
For the designer, Samtec offers full-system optimization support with industry-leading signal-integrity design expertise; characterization and development boards; and online design and development tools.
Explore the solutions below or Download the AI Solutions Guide to see how Samtec products can support your design. Please visit www.samtec.com/AI for additional resources as well.
