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On October 19, 2026, Lumentum, Astera Labs, and Corning demonstrated an optical PCIe solution at the 2026 OCP Global Summit, using fiber optics instead of copper cables to transmit PCIe signals, extending connection distances from a few meters with passive copper cables to tens or even hundreds of meters. The demonstration was based on Astera Labs' Scorpio Smart Fabric Switch, Lumentum's optical interconnect, and Corning's multimode fiber, using VCSELs, and achieved multiple 32 GB/s channels and an error-free PCIe 5 link. All three parties stated that this is still an early proof of concept, and moving toward scale deployment will require further work in areas such as system integration, reliability, and manufacturing. There are currently no facts about subsequent developments.
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Lumentum, Astera Labs and Corning Demonstrate Optical PCIe, Expanding the Boundaries of AI Rack DesignDevelopments
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Oct 19
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Lumentum, Astera Labs and Corning Demonstrate Optical PCIe, Expanding the Boundaries of AI Rack Design
At the 2026 OCP Global Summit, Lumentum, Astera Labs and Corning demonstrated an optical PCIe solution that uses fiber instead of copper cable to transmit PCIe signals, extending connection distances from the few meters possible with passive copper cables to tens or even hundreds of meters. The demonstration was based on Astera Labs' Scorpio Smart Fabric Switch, Lumentum's optical interconnect and Corning's multimode fiber, used VCSELs, and achieved multiple 32 GB/s lanes and error-free PCIe 5 links. All three companies said this is still an early proof of concept, and that moving toward volume deployment will require further work on system integration, reliability and manufacturing.