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OIF Links Industry Vision with Interoperability Validation Enabling AI Growth at ECOC 2025: 35 Member Companies to Participate in a Multi-Vendor Demonstration

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OIF highlights how interoperability enables scalable, AI-era networks through Market Focus sessions and live demos

Fremont, Calif. – September 17, 2025 – OIF, together with 35 participating member companies, is shaping the future of AI-era networks by demonstrating how multi-vendor collaboration delivers real-world interoperability and enables the scale, speed, and efficiency that tomorrow’s networks demand at ECOC 2025 Exhibition, taking place from September 29 to October 1 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Interoperability in Action

OIF’s live demonstration at booth #C3425 unites member companies across the ecosystem to prove that the building blocks of the future — optical, electrical, management and energy efficient interfaces — are ready for deployment. Showcasing interoperability in a complex, real-world environment, the demonstration highlights technologies including 400ZR, 800ZR, Multi-span Optics, Common Electrical I/O (CEI) CEI-448G, CEI-224G, CEI-112G, Co-Packaging, Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS), Energy Efficient Interfaces (EEI) and more — illustrating how standards enable networks to scale for AI and data-intensive applications.

800ZR, 400ZR and Multi-Span Optics – Optical Breakthroughs: Better Than Before

This demonstration will present the latest developments in interoperability for pluggable coherent optics, providing a thorough overview of their features and applications. The single-span demo highlights include 800ZR multivendor interop between modules using five different DSPs alongside the foundational OIF 400ZR application. For multi-span connectivity, the demonstration will feature OpenZR+, 100ZR and 800G OpenROADM across multiple network infrastructures.

CEI-448G, 224G and 112G – Driving Innovation and Collaboration for Future-Oriented Data Centers

At ECOC, OIF will showcase interoperability and innovation at the electrical interface with 448G and 224G CEI demonstrations that span the full spectrum of next-generation connectivity. The 448G demo focuses on hyperscaler needs for scaling AI networks, while expanded CEI-224G showcases bring greater ecosystem participation and highlight diverse link types from Very Short Reach (VSR) to Long Reach (LR) and Linear. In collaboration with the EEI track, OIF will also demonstrate energy-efficient electro-optical innovation across retimed, half-retimed (RTLR) and unretimed (Linear) pluggable optics. These demonstrations highlight the strength of the CEI ecosystem, proving robust interoperability across vendors and link types while advancing scalable, high-performance connectivity.

EEI and Co-Packaging – Revolutionizing Connectivity

OIF members will present achievements enabling energy efficient electrical and optical interfaces with both live and conceptual demonstrations of next-generation EEI solutions for AI compute, along with live External Laser Small Form-Factor Pluggable (ELSFP) demos highlighting advancements in external laser sources critical for co-packaged optics architectures. Addressing energy efficiency is one of the highest-priority challenges faced by hyperscalers as they grow their AI resources to the next generation.

As part of this year’s demonstration, CMIS will run within a live, simulated network environment rather than as a standalone setup — underscoring the specification’s maturity and its role in enabling seamless, plug-and-play integration across disaggregated systems.

These member companies — system vendors, component and module suppliers, test and measurement providers, semiconductor and electronic design automation (EDA) companies, and leading connector and cabling manufacturers — are participating in the demo: 1Finity, Adtran, Alphawave Semi, Amphenol, Anritsu Corporation, AOI, Cadence Design Systems, Inc., CICT/Accelink, Ciena, Cisco, Coherent Corp., Eoptolink Technology, EXFO, Furukawa FITEL, HGGenuine, Juniper Networks (now part of HPE), Keysight Technologies, Lessengers, Ligent, Inc., Lumentum, Marvell, MaxLinear Inc., Molex, MultiLane, Nokia, Nubis Communications, O-Net, Samtec, SENKO Advanced Components, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Synopsys, Inc., Terahop PTE Ltd., TE Connectivity, US Conec and Wilder Technologies.

“Interoperability isn’t an abstract promise — it’s a market enabler,” said Nathan Tracy, OIF President (TE Connectivity). “By bringing these diverse technologies/challenges together under one roof, OIF is accelerating adoption, reducing risks and enabling operators, hyperscalers and vendors to move faster in addressing surging AI demand.”

Setting the Agenda at ECOC Market Focus

Beyond the exhibit floor, OIF leaders will deliver timely perspectives during ECOC’s Market Focus program, offering actionable insights into the forces reshaping networks:

Coherent Technology Advances in the Market, DCI Interop and Shorter Reaches for AI
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 30
Time: 12:20–12:35pm CEST
Presenter: Karl Gass, OIF Physical & Link Layer Working Group Optical Vice Chair

CMIS – The Interface that Ties Everything Together for AI
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 30
Time: 2:20–2:35pm CEST
Presenter: Ian Alderdice, OIF Physical & Link Layer Working Group Management Co-Vice Chair (Ciena)

Energy Efficiency in AI Applications – Making Sense of the Multiple Requirements
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 1
Time: 10:40–10:55am CEST
Presenter: Jeff Hutchins, OIF Board Member and Secretary/Treasurer, Physical & Link Layer Working Group Energy Efficient Interfaces Vice Chair (Ranovus)

448G Architectures For AI – Addressing the Challenges, Enabling the Future
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 1
Time: 12:00–12:15pm CEST
Presenter: Mike Klempa, OIF Board Member and Physical & Link Layer Interoperability Working Group Chair (Alphawave Semi)

Visit OIF at booth #C3425 or learn more about the OIF Demo at ECOC 2025 here.

About OIF
OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. With more than 25 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 160+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors collaborating to develop interoperable electrical, optical and control solutions that directly impact the industry’s ecosystem and facilitate global connectivity in the open network world. Connect with OIF on LinkedIn, on X, on Bluesky and at https://www.oiforum.com/.

PR Contact:
Leah Wilkinson
Wilkinson + Associates for OIF
leah@wilkinson.associates
703-907-0010

OIF Concludes Successful Q3 ‘24 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting with Launch of Three New Projects to Advance Networking Technologies

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

During the meeting, OIF members initiated three new projects: Energy Efficient Interfaces (EEI) Compute Optics Interface (COI) for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Scale-up, EEI-224G-RTLR, and Common Electrical I/O (CEI)-448G Framework. The meeting also included Physical & Link Layer Working Group Interim Meetings on Aug. 5, 2024.

“Our in-person meetings provide a critical platform for collaboration and progress, allowing us to push the boundaries of innovation and address the evolving needs of the networking and AI/Machine Learning (ML) industries,” said Karl Bois, OIF Technical Committee Chair and NVIDIA.

NEW PROJECTS:

EEI COI Project for AI Scale-up: Aimed at addressing the growing demands of AI and ML, this project will focus on developing high-efficiency, low-latency interfaces to support the next generation of AI hardware.

The EEI COI Project will focus on developing energy-efficient, low-latency photonic interfaces to support AI scale-up links such as PCIe, NVLink and UALink. As AI workloads grow, the need for standardized, interoperable solutions for local accelerator connectivity becomes critical. Building on the existing EEI work, this project aims to address the industry’s demand for scalable, high-performance compute optical interfaces that ensure interoperability across diverse AI platforms.

EEI-224G-RTLR Project: This project will concentrate on enhancing electrical interfaces to enable lower power 224G optical signaling, a critical component in the evolution of high-speed data transmission and the expansion of broadband infrastructure.

The EEI-224G-RTLR Project aims to develop an Implementation Agreement (IA) for 224G Retimed Tx Linear Rx (RTLR) optical interfaces, following the decision to split the 224G RTLR work into a dedicated project. RTLR offers significant potential for cost, power and latency savings—approximately half of what is achievable with fully retimed pluggable optics—by eliminating the need for Rx DSP. Unlike Linear Pluggable Optics (LPO), where optical and copper links are mutually constrained, RTLR enables true plug and play interoperability.

This project is critical to ensuring interoperable interfaces with reduced power and higher efficiency in next-generation data and communication systems.

CEI-448G Framework Project: The CEI-448G Framework Project will develop a comprehensive framework for 448G electrical interfaces, enabling higher data rates and improved performance in data center and telecommunications applications.

The CEI-448G Framework Project is focused on defining the next electrical data rate beyond 224Gbps, targeting 448Gbps. As industry discussions begin, this project aims to address the challenges of achieving this high-speed data rate by exploring key factors like interface support, modulation schemes and test methodologies.

By gathering input from end-users, equipment developers and industry experts, the project will create a comprehensive body of knowledge. The findings will be summarized in a technical white paper, laying the groundwork for future projects that will develop specific standards and architectures for 448Gbps data rates.

Looking ahead, OIF’s Q4 ‘24 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting will be held the week of November 4-8, 2024, in Melbourne, Australia. This members-only meeting will provide a platform for further collaboration and progress on ongoing and new projects.

For more information about OIF’s initiatives, upcoming events or how to become a member, please visit  https://www.oiforum.com.

About OIF
OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. With more than 25 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 150+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors collaborating to develop interoperable electrical, optical and control solutions that directly impact the industry’s ecosystem and facilitate global connectivity in the open network world. Connect with OIF on LinkedIn, on X at @OIForum and at http://www.oiforum.com.

PR Contact:
Leah Wilkinson
Wilkinson + Associates for OIF
leah@wilkinson.associates
703-907-0010