By Yohai Schwiger

Israeli photonics company NewPhotonics, based in Petah Tikva, today unveiled its latest optical communication transmitter chip, the NPC50503 NPO, delivering data rates of up to 1.6 terabits per second (1.6 Tbps). The device is packaged in a low-power flip-chip BGA form factor and supports per-lane speeds of 224 Gbps, compliant with the PAM4 IEEE 802.3dj standard. It is designed for deployment in Near-Packaged Optics (NPO) architectures, which are increasingly required in large-scale AI data centers.

The new chip integrates an on-chip laser, an optical signal-processing unit, and an ultra-high-speed electrical interface. According to the company, this design reduces signal loss, lowers power consumption, and enables optical connectivity to be placed closer to processors and accelerators inside the server itself. The announcement also marks a strategic shift for NewPhotonics. Until now, the company’s products were primarily focused on enhancing and upgrading existing optical communication modules.

NewPhotonics previously supplied Transmitter-on-Chip (TOC) solutions, which replace the internal transmission components of optical modules and enable data rates of up to 1.6 Tbps while improving energy efficiency. This approach allowed module manufacturers to significantly boost performance without redesigning the underlying network architecture.

Moving Optical Links Closer to the Compute Core

The newly announced chip represents a move toward a more comprehensive solution positioned at the heart of AI-intensive systems. It is an NPO component designed to be installed inside the package, close to the CPU, GPU, or custom ASIC. This marks a meaningful architectural change. Instead of transmitting electrical signals from the processor to a photonic module via copper traces, which limit bandwidth and energy efficiency, optical connectivity is brought much closer to the point of computation.

In traditional systems, optical components reside in pluggable transceiver modules mounted at the front of servers or switches. These modules convert electrical signals to optical signals and back, but the electrical signal must first travel tens of centimeters over copper traces on the circuit board. At speeds exceeding 100 Gbps per lane, every additional centimeter degrades signal integrity, increases power consumption, and constrains overall bandwidth.

Near-Packaged Optics shortens this distance dramatically, sometimes to just a few centimeters, by integrating optical components on the board adjacent to the compute device itself. Reducing the electrical path enables higher data rates and better energy efficiency, while optical fibers become an integral part of the system architecture.

Refining the Optical Fabric for AI Workloads

Modern data centers, particularly those designed to run large AI models, require massive data movement between compute units while maintaining tight power budgets. Across the industry, there is a clear shift away from copper-based interconnects and discrete optical modules toward optics that are integrated directly into the system.

The next stage of this evolution is Co-Packaged Optics (CPO), where optical components and logic are combined within the same hardware package at the ASIC level. While CPO represents the long-term goal, it remains challenging due to manufacturing complexity, cost, and operational concerns, as a failure in an optical component could disable an entire package.

NewPhotonics’ NPO solution is positioned as a critical intermediate step toward that future. By integrating optical communication inside the system package rather than relying on external pluggable modules, the approach reduces dependence on copper, improves power efficiency, and still preserves design flexibility and operational practicality.