Key Findings
Huawei has made a bold move in the optical interconnect space by unveiling a 7.2Tbps Near-Packaged Optics (NPO) module at the China International Optoelectronic Exposition (CIOE). This announcement positions Huawei in direct competition with NVIDIA and Broadcom, who are championing Co-Packaged Optics (CPO), as Huawei pushes its proprietary NPO standard and plans to establish China’s first OPEN NPO Multi-Source Agreement (MSA).
Technical / Clinical Details
The newly introduced 7.2Tbps NPO module from Huawei integrates 36 channels, each operating at 200Gbps, enabling a total aggregate bandwidth of 7.2 terabits per second. This module is designed to fundamentally replace traditional copper wiring with optical signals, facilitating significantly faster and more energy-efficient data transfer between AI processors. NPO technology brings optical interfaces closer to the processor package, thereby shortening electrical trace lengths, minimizing signal degradation, and improving both bandwidth density and power efficiency. To accelerate the adoption of this technology, Huawei has initiated the “OPEN NPO” initiative, which includes participation from over 20 supply chain partners, such as China Mobile Research Institute and JD Cloud. This initiative aims to establish China’s first NPO optical interconnect Multi-Source Agreement (MSA), which will serve as a foundational standard to promote interoperability, mass production, and broader ecosystem development for NPO technology.
Background & Context
The explosive growth of AI workloads has placed unprecedented demands on data center interconnect technologies. Data transfer between AI accelerators has become a major bottleneck, constrained by the power consumption and physical limitations of traditional electrical signaling. Packaged optics solutions, including CPO and NPO, are emerging as primary approaches to address these challenges. Huawei’s move to counter NVIDIA and Broadcom’s strong CPO push with its own NPO standard and a high-bandwidth module suggests a strategic effort by China to establish an independent pathway in the AI optical interconnect market. This competition is not only about technological superiority but also about supply chain independence and geopolitical positioning within the critical AI infrastructure sector.
Strategic Significance & Outlook
Huawei’s unveiling of the 7.2Tbps NPO module and its plans to establish China’s first NPO MSA through the “OPEN NPO” initiative are poised to significantly impact the optical interconnect market. This strategy could accelerate the rapid adoption and standardization of NPO technology, potentially increasing the deployment of optical communication in AI data centers. Simultaneously, it will intensify the competition between CPO and NPO, two prominent packaged optics approaches, based on performance, cost, and ease of implementation. Huawei’s announcement offers a new technological alternative and a competitive dynamic that will contribute to the evolution of AI infrastructure both within and outside China, ultimately enhancing the performance and efficiency of next-generation AI.
Get our weekly technology intelligence — free
Receive an infographic that lets you judge at a glance whether each field’s analysis report is worth reading.
Subscribe Free — Weekly Tech Intelligence
By subscribing, you’ll receive Troy-Technical’s weekly technology intelligence newsletter.
- Your email and selected fields are used only to deliver the newsletter.
- We never share your information with third parties.
- You can unsubscribe anytime via the link in each email.
See our Privacy Policy for details.
Takes about a minute · Unsubscribe anytime
Comments