SoftBank Corp. and NewPhotonics have announced a collaborative research and development partnership to advance photonics technologies for next-generation data centers and mobile fronthaul infrastructure. The partnership focuses on Linear-drive Pluggable Optics (LPO), Co-packaged Optics (CPO), and All-Optics Switch Fabric, with a goal of enabling high-speed, low-latency, and energy-efficient optical communications. By leveraging NewPhotonics’ patented photonics integrated chips (PIC) and optical SerDes technology, the collaboration aims to address power consumption, latency, and capacity bottlenecks in AI clusters and data centers, while also expanding the reach of optical transmission in mobile networks.
The joint effort will improve the performance of data center infrastructure, particularly for GPU/CPU switching fabrics and AI workloads, while enhancing the speed and efficiency of long-distance optical transmissions. NewPhotonics’ optical technologies, combined with SoftBank’s expertise, will enable better power efficiency and greater distance limits, advancing both AI data centers and 6G mobile fronthaul systems. This collaboration is set to transform infrastructure, helping drive sustainability gains and providing SoftBank with a competitive edge in next-gen network solutions.
NewPhotonics’ innovations will be critical for modern compute environments, offering low-latency, high-density optical interconnects that scale across AI, high-performance computing, and mobile networks. The partnership highlights the future of photonics-electronics convergence in data center and mobile infrastructure.
• Focus areas: LPO (Linear-drive Pluggable Optics), CPO (Co-packaged Optics), All-Optics Switch Fabric
• Key technologies: NewPhotonics photonics integrated chips (PIC), optical SerDes, high-speed optical communication
• Applications: AI data centers, mobile fronthaul infrastructure, GPU/CPU switching fabric
• Benefits: Low-latency, low-power consumption, longer transmission distances, sustainability gains
• Partnership: SoftBank Corp. and NewPhotonics
“Our collaboration with NewPhotonics will transform AI data center and mobile fronthaul infrastructure with cutting-edge optical-electronics technologies that enhance speed, capacity, and sustainability,” said Ryuji Wakikawa, Head of SoftBank Research Institute of Advanced Technology.
