During Nvidia’s recent GTC AI Conference, Corning described the technological collaboration through which Corning’s fiber-optic connectivity mounts directly to Nvidia’s photonic chips.
Sean Kelly, vice president and business director for Corning’s data center business unit, explained in a blog post, “Corning is one of Nvidia’s technology innovation partners for its silicon photonics ecosystem, which enables AI factories to link GPUs [graphics processing units] while saving energy and operational expenses.
“Corning and Nvidia see a promising future for co-packaged optics (CPO) in artificial intelligence networks,” Kelly continued. “This form of connectivity enables power consumption efficiency and lower latency data processing by extending the fiber connection right to the photonic chips inside the equipment—empowering networks to make faster computations for next-generation AI capabilities.”
Collaboration between Corning and Nvidia has resulted in Corning solutions being compatible with the new line of Nvidia Quantum-X Photonics and Spectrum-X Photonics switches that incorporate CPO. Kelly described this compatibility as “a significant technological effort to meet the future bandwidth needs of AI systems.”
He further explained, “There has also been a dynamic evolution of high-density connectivity required to interconnect these devices within the data center environment, which has introduced new complexities. Corning addresses these challenges with a suite of advanced solutions, including high-density rack optical cabling solutions and shuffle devices for port breakout rail optimization. These innovations feature high-fiber-count with low-outer-diameter cables that are factory-terminated with MMC connectors and optimized for next-generation GPU configurations.”
Corning dedicates a section of its website to InfiniBand and Ethernet connectivity options for Nvidia networking.
