Lumentum introduced its new R300 Optical Circuit Switch (OCS), a 300×300-port solution specifically designed to enhance scalability, performance, and energy efficiency in next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. The OCS is currently being sampled by multiple hyperscale customers and is expected to become generally available in the second half of 2025.
Lumentum’s Optical Circuit Switching technology uses Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) mirrors to dynamically direct optical signals across fiber networks without converting signals between optical and electrical domains.
Lumentum claims that compared to traditional Ethernet-based architectures, its OCS solution significantly reduces power consumption, potentially lowering overall data center network power use by more than 65% for large-scale GPU deployments. Additionally, it delivers ultra-low latency by removing optical-electrical-optical (OEO) conversions, provides ultra-wideband functionality across O, C, and L optical bands, and offers superior signal integrity and stability, thanks to its proprietary MEMS technology.
• Lumentum introduces the R300 OCS, a MEMS-based 300×300-port optical circuit switch.
• Reduces power consumption by over 65% compared to Ethernet-based infrastructure.
• Offers ultra-low latency (5X to 10X improvement) through elimination of OEO conversions.
• Supports wideband operation across O, C, and L optical bands, enabling future-proof upgrades.
• Provides superior optical performance with low insertion loss, return loss, and polarization effects.
“Lumentum’s MEMS-based R300 OCS represents a significant leap forward in scalability and efficiency for AI data centers, directly addressing the critical infrastructure needs of hyperscalers,” said Wupen Yuen, Lumentum president of Cloud and Networking.
