POET is being recognized for their ability to supply a highly efficient remote light source for AI by the group established to set the standards. Suresh has continued to reduce the spacing between channels which is in keeping with the needs to pack more channels than are currently used for CWDM4. And the athermal nature of the Optical Interposer allows for wavelength stability without cooling as recently reported by Suresh. So when you read the comments by Ayar Labs it becomes very relevant to the discussions and debate leading up to this moment in time. The need to provide a highly efficient low cost light source is now a given to power AI.

Members of the CW-WDM Group

Company Representative

Arista Alexey Kovsh

Ayar Labs Matt Sysak

Sivers Photonics Andrew McKee

imec Joris Van Campenhout

Intel Scott Schube

Lumentum David Lewis

Luminous Computing Kate Roelofs

MACOM Vishal Chandrasekar

Quintessent Brian Koch

Sumitomo Electric Ken Jackson

II-VI Tsurugi Sudo

CW-WDM MSA

CW-WDM MSA

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Traditional CWDM4 technology has hit a wall. With just four wavelengths, it simply can't keep up with the data-hungry bandwidth demands of next-gen applications like

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#AI,

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#HPC, and

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#QuantumComputing.

The CW-WDM MSA leverages IEEE and ITU-T standards to standardize high-wavelength count (8, 16, 32+) optical sources.

Unlike CWDM4, which defines the full communication link, the CW-WDM MSA focuses solely on standardizing laser sources. This gives developers the flexibility to optimize links for emerging applications without interoperability constraints.

Industry leaders are already on board. These pioneers are rolling out CW-WDM MSA-compliant products, paving the way for the next wave of optical interconnect innovation:

· Ayar Labs

· Lumentum

· MACOM

· Sivers Photonics

· Quantifi Photonics

· POET Technologies

It is good to see Ayer Labs making the argument for remote light sources. POET identified Ayer Labs early on as a company that would benefit from POETs remote light sources. 

Modern AI systems require GPU or ASIC die with very high power consumptions, which cause very high temperatures in their immediate surroundings. Integrated light sources experience these very high temperatures due to their physical proximity, while systems with remote light sources can be engineered to experience better thermal environments. 

Lasers, particularly at the high output powers necessary for advanced data rates, are the components most likely to fail within an optical connectivity solution when subject to high temperatures, potentially taking down the entire link. Remote light sources have the advantage of less demanding thermal environments, extending their operational lifespan and dramatically reducing failure rates and system downtime. 

Furthermore, remote lasers can easily be removed, serviced or replaced without interfering with other system components like the co-packaged GPU and CPO or optical I/O chiplets. Integrated light sources may not be serviceable or need significant modifications to the expensive ASIC package, increasing costs and system downtimes.

The industry has established the External Laser Small Form-Factor Pluggable (ELSFP) specification, recognizing the importance of external lasers. This common form factor leverages the serviceability, replaceability, and ease-of-deployment benefits of pluggable modules and the cost, latency, and channel loss advantages of CPO solutions while uniting the ecosystem of suppliers and customers around a single form factor.