At OFC 2026 in Los Angeles, Marvell Technology, Inc. and Lumentum Holdings Inc. are demonstrating an integrated optical connectivity system designed to accelerate AI data center performance. The live showcase, in Marvell booth #1600, highlights how advanced optical circuit switching (OCS) combined with coherent DSP technology can deliver ultra-low-latency, high-bandwidth connections with reduced power consumption.
As AI workloads push unprecedented traffic across data centers, traditional packet-based networks struggle to keep up. Optical circuit switching addresses this by creating direct, real-time optical paths between endpoints, eliminating intermediate packet processing and O-E-O (optical-electrical-optical) conversions.
The Tech in Action
The demonstration integrates:
- Marvell Aquila 1.6T coherent-lite DSPs and Ara 1.6T PAM4 optical DSPs
- COLORZ® 800 ZR/ZR+ DCI modules
- Lumentum R300 OCS platform
- Marvell RELIANT™ telemetry and analytics platform
Together, these components enable dynamic, high-bandwidth optical paths that reduce latency, lower power consumption, and improve network efficiency. RELIANT provides end-to-end visibility, predictive insight, and automated optimization across the connectivity portfolio.
“AI is redefining every layer of the data center stack, and connectivity is at the center of that transformation,” said Xi Wang, SVP and GM of Marvell’s Connectivity Business Unit. “By demonstrating Marvell optical connectivity solutions interoperating with Lumentum’s OCS platform, we’re showing how tomorrow’s AI networks can achieve massive gains in performance, efficiency, and architectural agility.”
Peter Roorda, GM of Switching at Lumentum, emphasized the scalability benefits: “AI scaling is pushing conventional packet-based networks beyond their practical limits. The R300 optical circuit switch delivers large-port-count, software-controlled optical connectivity that enables predictable low-latency paths while reducing the power overhead associated with traditional switching layers.”
The collaboration illustrates a pathway for next-generation AI fabrics, combining advanced DSP technologies with optical circuit switching to meet the extreme bandwidth, latency, and power requirements of modern data centers.
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