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Co-Packaged Optics (CPO): Revolutionizing Optical Interconnect Architecture
Aug 5th,2025
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Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) is an advanced interconnect technology that integrates the optical engine—responsible for photoelectric conversion—and the ASIC chip—used for data switching or computing—within a single package using state-of-the-art packaging techniques. By significantly shortening the electrical signal transmission path, CPO enables higher bandwidth, lower power consumption, and reduced latency.
Unlike traditional pluggable optical modules—such as QSFP-DD, OSFP, and other transceiver form factors like SFP+, QSFP28, or CFP2—which are designed as removable components, CPO moves the optical engine from a pluggable module into a co-packaged configuration alongside the ASIC. This represents a fundamental shift in optical interconnect architecture.
By deeply integrating photonic components with the core semiconductor at the package level, CPO fundamentally enhances both energy and spatial efficiency throughout the "electrical-optical-electrical" conversion process. This makes it particularly suitable for next-generation high-performance computing, data centers, and AI infrastructure.
Although CPO still faces challenges in areas such as thermal management, packaging technology, testing, and industry standardization, it is widely recognized as a critical evolution path to meet future demands for ultra-high-speed, low-power computing networks.
