CPO: Stop Burning Cash—Unlocking more power for compute

CPO: Stop Burning Cash—Unlocking more power for compute:

Co-Packaged Optics integrates the optical engine directly with the switch chip in a single package. By eliminating traditional pluggable optics and shortening electrical signal paths, CPO minimizes power dissipation and enhances overall efficiency. This integration not only reduces energy consumption but also simplifies thermal management and improves signal integrity.

Here are some key power-saving benefits of CPO:

1. 50% Reduction:

CPO is expected to cut the power consumption of existing pluggable optical module architectures by up to 50%. Micas CPO Switch using Broadcom’s TH5-Bailly delivers an impressive energy consumption of less than 6 pJ/bit.

2. No DSPs:

Traditional pluggable solutions often rely on digital signal processors (DSPs) to restore signal integrity, contributing significantly to overall power usage. CPO bypasses the need for these DSPs, reducing both complexity and power draw.

3. 80% Saving:

By integrating optical and electrical components, CPO achieves more than 80% savings in insertion loss compared to conventional pluggable modules, further enhancing efficiency.

According to Broadcom’s analysis in a 30,528 GPU cluster, CPO can save an estimated 466 kW compared to DSP-based pluggables.

As the industry moves towards 100T+ applications, CPO is poised to play a crucial role in enabling high-density, energy-efficient optical interconnects, revolutionizing data center infrastructure and driving a more sustainable future.

Discover Micas' cutting-edge optical networking solutions at OFC 2025. Our partnership with Broadcom, currently supplying CPO switches to the US hyperscale data center, demonstrates our commitment to delivering unmatched performance and power savings for your network.