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If electrical interfaces are becoming an impediment, is co-packaged optics the answer? Broadcom certainly thinks so.
One reason for the growing interest in co-packaged optics is the input-output (I/O) demands of switch chips. If the packet processing capacity of such chips is doubling every two years, their I/O must double too.
Alexis BjörlinRepeatedly doubling the data throughput of a switch chip is a challenge.
Each new generation of switch chip must either double the number of serialiser-deserialiser (serdes) circuits or double their speed.
A higher serdes count - the latest 25.6-terabit switch ICs have 256, 100 gigabit-per-second serdes - requires more silicon area while both approaches - a higher count and higher speed - increase the chip's power consumption.
Faster electrical interfaces also complicate the system design since moving the data between the chip and the optical modules on the switch's front panel becomes more challenging.
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