Passive copper connections remain the norm for short interconnects connecting servers to switches within cloud data center racks or for connecting xPUs to each other in AI clusters. The adoption of co-packaged optics (CPO) in NVIDIA's latest platforms, such as NVIDIA Quantum-X Photonics and Spectrum-X Photonics, reduces power consumption by up to 3. 5x and improves resiliency by 10x by integrating optical engines directly onto the switch ASIC. NVIDIA's CPO-based systems, slated. Running large AI models requires splitting tasks across many GPUs and servers. These GPUs need to be connected with very low latency, because even small delays can affect performance. High-density fiber solutions, such as ribbon fiber, facilitate this by fitting more fibers into a limited space and. Three types of interconnects help to address multi-terabit interconnect challenges: copper, optical, and a newer alternative, RF transmission over plastic cable (e-Tube). How data centers are evolving to meet the challenges of AI/ML computing.
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