Articles from OIF

OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, held its Q2 2025 Technical and Market Awareness & Education Committees Member Meeting May 5-8, 2025 in Tallinn, Estonia.

As demand grows for scalable, energy-efficient, high-capacity connectivity in short-reach environments, OIF has released an Implementation Agreement (IA) defining a single-wavelength 800G coherent line interface—800LR.

As network demands grow more complex, OIF is set to showcase interoperability breakthroughs with live demonstrations and expert discussions at OFC 2025 in San Francisco, April 1-3.

As AI and machine learning (ML) applications drive unprecedented demand for higher data rates, the industry faces the dual challenge of finalizing 224Gbps signaling while preparing for the transition to 400G/lane technologies. In response, OIF is holding a public industry workshop, “Addressing the Next Rate Challenges: 448Gbps Signaling for AI,” on April 15-16, 2025, at the Hilton Santa Clara in Silicon Valley.

OIF successfully concluded its Q1 2025 Technical and MA&E Committees Member Meeting, held fully in-person in San Diego, from February 11-13.

OIF continues to lead the charge in advancing interoperability, with 35 member companies uniting at OFC 2025 to showcase groundbreaking solutions that redefine performance, efficiency and capacity. This year’s demonstrations will highlight advancements in interoperability tailored to address the growing demands of future-oriented data centers, AI/ML technologies and disaggregated systems.

Showcasing its commitment to connecting with technical professionals in chip, board and systems design, OIF will host two panels at DesignCon 2025, the premier event for the high-speed communications and semiconductor industries taking place Jan. 28-30 in Santa Clara.

OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, today announced its newly elected 2024-2025 Board of Directors and Officers. The new terms began on Oct. 1, 2024.

OIF successfully concluded its Q4 2024 Technical and MA&E Committees Member Meeting held fully in person in Melbourne, Australia, from November 5-7, 2024.

In its ongoing commitment to meet evolving market demands for interoperability and address real-world network requirements, OIF has released its highly anticipated 800ZR coherent interface implementation agreement (IA). OIF has also released updates to the foundational 400ZR coherent optical interfaces IA.

OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, will participate in several upcoming global conferences – Network X 2024, the 2024 Open Compute Project (OCP) Global Summit and Ethernet Alliance’s Technology Exploration Forum (TEF) 2024 – reinforcing its leadership role in shaping the future of interoperability in the networking and Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) industries.

OIF has unveiled the latest Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) Implementation Agreement (IA) (version 5.3); the External Laser Small Form Factor (ELSFP) Pluggable CMIS IA; the Formfactor Specific Hardware Management (CMIS-FF) IA; and a new white paper titled “CMIS: Path to Plug and Play.”

OIF today unveiled new details on its live interoperability demonstrations at ECOC 2024, highlighting advancements across critical areas such as 800ZR, 400ZR and multi-span optics; Common Electrical I/O (CEI) CEI-112G and CEI-224G; Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) and Energy Efficient Interfaces (EEI) & Co-Packaging.

OIF successfully concluded its Q3 ‘24 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting, held from Aug. 6-8, 2024, in Ottawa, ON, Canada.

OIF is set to lead a dynamic interoperability demonstration featuring live collaboration between 34 member companies at the upcoming ECOC 2024 exhibition being held Sept. 23-25 in Frankfurt, Germany. This showcase will highlight advancements in performance, efficiency and capacity in response to the burgeoning needs of future-oriented data centers, AI/ML technologies and disaggregated systems.

OIF’s Q2 Technical and Market Awareness & Education (MA&E) Committees meeting, held May 7-9 in Athens, Greece, concluded with the launch of a Common Electrical I/O (CEI) CEI-224G-Linear project and the publication of two Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) white papers.

OIF’s record-breaking, multi-vendor interoperability demonstrations at OFC 2024 will spotlight groundbreaking interoperable solutions in 800ZR, 400ZR and OpenZR+ optics; Energy Efficient Interfaces (EEI) & Co-Packaging; 112G and 224G Common Electrical I/O (CEI); and Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) implementations.

OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, will be a focal point at OFC 2024, where a record-setting 47 member companies will showcase the groundbreaking interoperable solutions that are addressing the unprecedented demand for next-generation data center networking, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) and disaggregation applications.

OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, successfully concluded its Q1 2024 Technical and MA&E meeting in Jacksonville, Florida held January 16-18.

OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, has published a new Implementation Agreement (IA) for Common Electrical I/O (CEI) CEI-112G-XSR+-PAM4 Extended Extra Short Reach.

OIF experts will provide valuable insights into the latest trends and developments in power consumption in optical AI networking and 224 Gbps Common Electrical I/O (CEI) at DesignCon 2024, taking place from January 30 to February 1, 2024, in Santa Clara, California.

Recognizing the crucial role that CMIS plays in the industry’s ability to harness the full potential of emerging technologies, OIF will host a free, public CMIS tutorial webinar on Tuesday, December 5th, 2023, from 7:00 am to 8:30 am Pacific Time (PST). In the rapidly evolving landscape of networking technologies, being informed about the tools that can streamline functionality and integration is paramount.

OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, today announced its newly elected 2023-2024 Board of Directors and Officers. The Technical Committee and Market Awareness & Education Committee Chairs were elected in person at the hybrid Q323 Technical Committee Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, while the Board positions were elected via email ballot. The new terms began on October 2, 2023.

OIF’s demo at ECOC 2023 will feature a record 39 companies demonstrating innovation and collaboration across four sectors: 400ZR+ optics, Co-Packaging Solutions, Common Electrical I/O (CEI) channels and Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) implementations. ECOC, taking place Oct. 2-4 in Glasgow, Scotland, provides an ideal platform for OIF and its member companies to showcase their multi-vendor interoperability achievements.

OIF concluded its hybrid Q3 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting, August 8-10 in Vancouver, BC, Canada, with the launch of four groundbreaking new projects. The meeting also featured guest speaker Ian Redpath, Research Director, Transport Networks and Components, Omdia.

OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, will showcase its largest-ever multi-vendor interoperability demonstration at ECOC 2023, being held October 2-4 in Glasgow, Scotland. Additionally, during ECOC, OIF will continue its commemoration of 25 years dedicated to driving meaningful progress in the industry.

OIF, celebrating 25 years of getting the optical networking industry’s interoperability work done, today unveiled the External Laser Small Form-Factor Pluggable (ELSFP) Implementation Agreement (IA), defining a revolutionary front panel pluggable form factor tailored to co-packaged optical systems and other multiple laser external laser source applications.

OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, today announced the launch of an innovative new project, the Energy Efficient Interfaces (EEI) Framework. The project, initiated at the Q2 2023 Technical and MA&E Committees meeting in May, will focus on studying new energy-efficient electrical and optical interfaces (which, among others, includes the next generation of low power optics, also referred to as “Linear” or “Direct Drive”). These new interfaces will be required to meet the demands of various applications such as data center networking, artificial intelligence (AI) training/machine learning (ML) and disaggregation.

At OIF’s hybrid Q2 2023 Technical and MA&E Committees meeting held in Budapest, Hungary, May 9-11, members voted to initiate four new projects spanning multiple technology tracks. Additionally, a new member of the Board of Directors was appointed, a Working Group Chair was re-elected and a WG Vice Chair was appointed.

OIF will share updates on its latest projects and highlight its 25-year legacy of driving critical standards and advancing optical networking at NGON & 5G Transport 2023 in Cote d'Azur, France, May 30 – June 1, 2023.

OIF, celebrating 25 years of getting the optical networking industry’s interoperability work done, continues to be at the forefront of the industry, promoting collaboration and coordination among different players in the supply chain and driving efforts to foster a co-packaging ecosystem to support innovative applications.

At OFC 2023, OIF will host more than 30 member companies for its largest-ever interoperability demonstration, a special technology session and reception to commemorate its 25th anniversary and will participate in two show floor program sessions showcasing OIF’s work. OIF also announced the availability of a white paper highlighting the findings from a 400ZR Interoperability Plugfest held in January.

OIF, celebrating 25 years of getting the optical networking industry’s interoperability work done, is hosting the largest ever multi-vendor interoperability demonstration at OFC 2023, March 7-9 in San Diego, California.

OIF’s first Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting of the year kicked off a year-long celebration of OIF’s 25th anniversary, the launch of an enhanced SGMII project – a Physical & Link Layer (PLL) Working Group Electrical track project – and the completion of the Common Electrical I/O (CEI)-112G-VSR, as well as featured guest speakers, Vladimir Kozlov, CEO, LightCounting; and Alan Weckel, Founder and Technology Analyst, 650 Group.

OIF has worked to advance the development of interoperable electrical interface specifications, known as CEI (common electrical I/O), for over two decades, leading to the widespread adoption of industry-changing standards. At DesignCon 2023, Jan 31 – Feb 2, in Santa Clara, CA, industry experts will reveal the work OIF is doing to address electrical interfaces optimized for new electrical and optical architecture aspirations, including 224 Gbps and the co-packaging of optical and electrical interfaces with ASICs.

OIF’s Q4 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting, held in person and virtually November 1-3, 2022, in Kona, Hawaii, included guest speaker Francis Alueta, Hawaiian Telcom, and resulted in the release of a new white paper, a 400ZR survey, and re-elections of two new Working Group chairs.

OIF is driving discussion on co-packaging interoperability efforts in an upcoming webinar, “Co-Packaging: Charting the Path Ahead” being held on Tuesday, December 6, 2022 at 8:00am PST/10:00am CST/11:00am EST/4:00pm GMT. The free two-hour event, hosted by Lightwave, will feature unique perspectives from industry thought leaders: Astera Labs, Cisco, Huawei, Marvell, Meta, NVIDIA, Ranovus, TE Connectivity and University of California, Santa Barbara. Register here for this free event.

OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, today announced its newly elected Board of Directors and Officers. The Technical Committee and Market Awareness & Education Committee Chairs were elected in person at the hybrid Q322 Technical Committee Meeting in Toronto, Canada, while the Board positions were elected via email ballot. The new terms began on October 1, 2022.

OIF continues to lead industry discussion on interoperability efforts through an upcoming webinar, “Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) - Demystified,” being held on Tuesday, October 4, 2022, at 8:00am PDT/10:00am CDT/11:00am EDT/4:00pm GMT/5:00pm CEST. The free online event, hosted by Lightwave, will feature unique perspectives from industry leaders: Ciena, Cisco, Google and Marvell. Register for this free event.

OIF will host the largest global interoperability showcase at OIF’s booth, #701, during ECOC 2022, September 19-21, in Basel, Switzerland. Nearly 30 member companies are participating in demonstrations in four critical areas: 400ZR optics, Co-Packaging architectures, Common Electrical I/O (CEI) architectures and Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) implementations.

OIF experts to present project updates, discuss overcoming implementation challenges through interoperability and open optical networking and disaggregation at NGON & DCI World 2022 being held in Barcelona, Spain June 21–23, 2022.

OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, has published a new Implementation Agreement (IA) for Common Electrical I/O (CEI) 5.0 specifying the next generation of 112Gb/s electrical interconnects. The IA specifies transmitter, receiver and channel requirements associated with Extra Short Reach (XSR), Medium Reach (MR) and Long Reach (LR) interfaces for multi-chip-module, chip-to-chip, and high-speed backplane applications.

OIF’s Q2 2022 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting, held in person and virtually May 10-12, 2022 in Porto, Portugal, resulted in the release of a Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) Implementation Agreement (IA) and the initiation of a new CMIS project.

Over the last 20+ years, OIF’s interoperable electrical interface specifications known as CEI (common electrical I/O) have been adopted across many applications to become critical building blocks for several industry standards and platforms.

Highlights from OIF’s first member meeting of the year include four new Common Electrical I/O (CEI) projects, two new Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) project launches, an OIF Working Group election, and an industry talk from Scott Wilkinson, Lead Analyst, Networking Components, Cignal AI. The Q122 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting was held virtually February 7-11.

OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, will host its largest demonstration of interoperable optical networking solutions to date at this year’s OFC 2022 in San Diego, March 8-10, 2022. Industry experts will also present updates on OIF’s current work in many critical areas, including 400ZR/800ZR and electrical rates.

As the industry looks forward to higher data rates and increased throughput for the next generation of systems based on 224 Gbps per lane, new specifications and technologies will be required. OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, today announced a framework document representing OIF’s efforts to identify the hardware interconnection application spaces where the communications and computer industries could benefit from interconnection definitions or Implementation Agreements (IA).

OIF, the global industry forum accelerating market adoption of advanced interoperable optical networking solutions, today announced the release of a framework Implementation Agreement (IA) for co-packaging, identifying the critical co-packaged applications and their requirements and charting a path for interoperability standards.

OIF continues to drive discussion and work toward industry interoperability through an upcoming webinar, “Co-Packaging Standardization Progress,” being held on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, at 7:00am PST/9:00am CST/10:00am EST/3:00pm GMT. The free event, hosted by Lightwave, will feature presentations and discussions with industry-leading experts from global organizations: Cisco, Intel, Ranovus, Sumitomo Electric and TE Connectivity. Register for this free event.

OIF is expanding its role in driving industry interoperability through the addition of the Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) work initiated by the Quad Small Form Factor Pluggable Double Density (QSFP-DD) Multi Source Agreement (MSA).

OIF, where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done, today announced election results for its Board of Directors, Officers and Working Group representatives.

OIF’s Q3 2021 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting, held virtually August 2-6, 2021, demonstrated OIF’s leadership in next-generation channel definition by revealing a new Common Electrical I/O (CEI) project. Two projects under the Physical and Link Layer (PLL) newly formed Management track were also initiated. Jimmy Yu, vice president of Dell’Oro Group, was featured as the guest speaker, and a new Board Member was appointed.

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OIF thought leaders will share insight into OIF’s interoperability work in groundbreaking technologies at some of the world’s largest global communications conferences: OFC 2021, Optinet China 2021 and China Fiber Connect Forum 2021.

Activity was high at OIF’s Q2 2021 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting, held virtually May 10-14. Members initiated three new innovative projects, including a Co-Packaged Optics external laser module, Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Enhanced Network Operations and CEI-112G-Linear, in addition to announcing a network operator survey for the 2022 Networking Demo.