Applied Optoelectronics Secures First 1.6T Transceiver Volume Order; Marvell Expands 1.6T Optical DSP Portfolio for AI Data Centers

August 23, 2026

openPR.com USA

Overview

Applied Optoelectronics (AOI) received its first volume order for 1.6T data-center transceivers in March 2026 and expects combined 800G and 1.6T production capacity to exceed 500,000 units per month by year-end 2026. Simultaneously, Marvell expanded its 1.6T optical DSP portfolio for AI data-center connectivity. This market is driven by migration from 800G to 1.6T and higher capacities, alongside wider adoption of silicon photonics and integrated optical architectures for AI and cloud networks.

In Depth

Key Findings

Applied Optoelectronics (AOI) achieved a significant milestone in March 2026 by securing its first volume order for 1.6T data center transceivers. This achievement is complemented by AOI’s ambitious plan to scale its combined 800G and 1.6T production capacity to over 500,000 units per month by the end of 2026, signaling a strong commitment to meeting the surging demand from AI data centers. Concurrently, Marvell expanded its 1.6T optical Digital Signal Processor (DSP) portfolio in the same month, reinforcing its leadership in providing high-performance solutions for AI data center interconnectivity.

Technical / Clinical Details

The 1.6T optical transceivers rely on advanced modulation techniques like PAM4 (4-level Pulse Amplitude Modulation) and state-of-the-art silicon photonics (SiPh) platforms to achieve multi-terabit data rates. SiPh technology is crucial for these modules, enabling high integration density, lower power consumption, and mass manufacturability, which are essential for the high-bandwidth, high-density interconnects required by AI workloads. Marvell’s 1.6T optical DSPs are designed to efficiently process these high-speed signals, optimize signal integrity, and extend transmission reach and reliability. This critical component ensures efficient data exchange between CPUs and GPUs within AI data centers with minimal latency and high throughput.

Background & Context

The explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally transforming data center architectures, leading to unprecedented demands for interconnect bandwidth both within and between data centers. This has necessitated an accelerated upgrade path from 800G to 1.6T, with future roadmaps extending to 3.2T. This rapid evolution is encountering the inherent limitations of traditional electrical interconnects, thereby driving a swift transition towards integrated optical architectures, including silicon photonics and co-packaged optics (CPO). The strategic moves by AOI and Marvell reflect the industry’s response to these trends, providing foundational technologies for the next generation of AI and cloud networks.

Strategic Significance & Outlook

The investments by AOI and Marvell in 1.6T technology and expanded production capacities are poised to further accelerate the growth of the AI data center market. Marvell, in particular, is actively expanding its low-power product lineup to cover various key nodes of AI networks, from optical DSPs to CPO solutions. The continued evolution of silicon photonics and integrated optical architectures will enable even higher performance and more energy-efficient AI infrastructures, thereby unlocking new possibilities for next-generation AI applications. These developments signify a new phase of growth for the data communications industry, propelled by the demands of the AI-driven economy.

Source: https://www.openpr.com/news/4603002/new-optical-module-market-study-highlights-1-6t-connectivity

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