Huawei and Intel both develop advanced optical modules for high-speed data transmission, with Huawei focusing on photonic chips and modulators for ultra-high-speed networks, and Intel pioneering fully integrated optical I/O chiplets for AI and HPC applications.

Huawei Optical Modules

Huawei's optical modules, also known as optical transceivers, convert electrical signals into optical signals and vice versa, enabling high-speed fiber-optic communication at the physical layer of the OSI model . They are widely used in data centers, telecommunications, and AI infrastructure. Huawei offers a variety of module types, including SFP, eSFP, SFP+, SFP28, XFP, QSFP+, QSFP28, and CFP, supporting transmission rates from 10GE to 100GE and beyond . Modules are hot-swappable and come with features like voltage, temperature, and optical power monitoring in enhanced versions (eSFP). Huawei's core optical chip technology includes:

• oDSP (Optical Digital Signal Processing) chips in the OptiXtreme series, supporting single-wavelength rates from 100G to 600G, with spectrum efficiency up to 8 bit/s/Hz .
• Thin Film Lithium Niobate (TFLN) modulators, which increase bandwidth by 50% and reduce power consumption by 30% compared to traditional indium phosphide modulators, enabling single-wavelength terabit transmission .
• System-level innovations like fully peer-to-peer optical interconnects for AI supercomputing clusters, replacing copper with optical cables to interconnect CPUs and AI chips efficiently . Huawei's modules are designed for long-distance, high-capacity transmission, with flagship systems like OSN 9800 M24 supporting single-wave 1.2Tbps and single-fiber capacity up to 96Tbps .

Intel Optical Modules

Intel has developed the first fully integrated optical compute interconnect (OCI) chiplet, co-packaged with an Intel CPU, aimed at AI infrastructure and high-performance computing (HPC) . Key features include:

• 64 channels of 32 Gbps data transmission in each direction over fiber up to 100 meters.
• Co-packaged optical I/O reduces power consumption, increases bandwidth density, and lowers latency compared to traditional electrical I/O.
• Supports scalable CPU/GPU cluster connectivity, coherent memory expansion, and resource disaggregation, addressing the growing demands of AI workloads . Intel's approach emphasizes integration of optical modules directly with processors, enabling more compact, energy-efficient, and high-bandwidth interconnects for next-generation data centers.

Comparison and Applications

Both Huawei and Intel are driving the evolution of optical communication, with Huawei excelling in high-capacity backbone networks and modulators, while Intel focuses on co-packaged optical interconnects for AI and HPC workloads, enabling faster, more efficient data movement within modern computing systems .