Lumentum and Partners Will Demo Optical PCIe Links
The 2026 OCP Global Summit will feature a prototype PCIe-over-optics link leveraging mature mobile 3D sensing hardware.
Updated on Oct. 12, 2026 in Data Centers
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Lumentum, Corning, and Astera Labs are scheduled to demonstrate a PCIe-over-optics data link at the 2026 OCP Global Summit in California. This research-stage project explores high-speed data transmission using components adapted from existing consumer electronics supply chains.
Why it matters
As data centers face cooling and bandwidth constraints from AI workloads, moving to optical connectivity for internal server communications could significantly reduce power consumption. This development aims to leverage economies of scale by repurposing established hardware frameworks.
The system architecture utilizes Lumentum’s optical engines equipped with vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and photodetector arrays. This design builds upon a production framework previously refined for smartphone 3D sensing applications.
The players
Lumentum
A developer of optical components and laser technology, widely known for its 3D sensing lasers used in mobile consumer electronics.
Corning
A manufacturer of advanced glass, ceramics, and optical fiber products that provide the physical infrastructure for high-bandwidth networks.
Astera Labs
A fabless semiconductor company specializing in high-speed connectivity solutions for AI and cloud data centers.
The details
The technology aims to replace electrical PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) copper traces with optical fibers to overcome current signal-integrity limits. It uses VCSELs — semiconductor lasers that emit light vertically from the chip surface — to convert electrical signals into optical pulses. These pulses are transmitted across links that rely on production methodologies originally matured for mass-market mobile devices.
Timeline
The demonstration of the PCIe optical link capability is set for 2026 at the OCP Summit.
The Tech Race
This effort attempts to transition data center interconnects away from traditional electrical PCIe copper signaling. It follows a wider industry trend of integrating proven consumer-grade optoelectronics into the high-performance computing stack.
This technology remains in the research phase and will not immediately reach data centers or consumer products. It targets future server architectures, aiming to eventually provide the higher bandwidth density required for next-generation AI processing clusters.
The takeaway
This collaboration signals an industry-wide attempt to import mass-market optical manufacturing precision into the data center stack. Watch the 2026 OCP Global Summit for performance benchmarks that will determine if this approach can rival existing high-speed copper interconnects.
Further reading
To understand the broader shift toward high-speed optical infrastructure, see Data Centers.
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Would you choose high-speed optical connections for your personal computing hardware?
