The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) has established the OIF Co-Packaging 3.2T Co-Packaged Module Implementation Agreement (IA). The standard serves as the industry’s first co-packaging standard, as well as the organization’s first project under the umbrella of its Co-Packaging Framework Document. The framework document seeks to address “the application spaces and relevant technology considerations for co-packaging of optical and electrical communication interfaces with one or more [application-specific integrated circuits].” The OIF-Co-Packaing-3.2T-Module-01.0 Implementation Agreement for a 3.2-Tbit/s Co-Packaged (CPO) Module defines a 3.2T co-packaged module that targets Ethernet switching applications using 100G electrical lanes and provides backward compatibility with 50G lanes. The module definition can be in the form of an optical module or a passive copper cable assembly and provides ~140G/mm of bandwidth edge-density. It can enable optical and/or electrical interfaces for a 51.2-Tbit/s aggregate bandwidth switch. “This IA is part of a trio of projects which include the Framework project and the External Laser Small Form Factor Pluggable (ELSFP) project,” said Jeff Hutchins, OIF PLL Working Group co-packaging vice chair and board member at Ranovus. “Building on OIF’s successful track record of coherent and laser module IAs, it addresses the market need for interoperable integrated optics standardization identified by the CPO Framework IA.” The IA includes interoperability specifications for the 3.2-Tbit/s CPO modules, including 8 × 400-Gbit/s optical interface options for FR4 and DR4 connectivity; 32 × CEI-112G-XSR host interface (or 32 × CEI-56G-XSR in “backward compatible” mode); optomechanical module specifications; electrical specifications; and a control and management interface, enabled by enhancements to the existing OIF CMIS specification. “Considerable progress has been made in co-packaging, and this new IA, along with a collaborative ecosystem, is a critical piece to propel the technology so that it meets industry needs, including that of Cloud service providers as they build their next-generation AI networks,” said Richard Ward, technical editor of the OIF 3.2T Co-Packaged Module IA and chief technologist for data connectivity at Astera Labs. At OFC 2023 in March, OIF revealed its progress in co-packaging specifications in a set of interoperability demonstrations. The demos included pivotal multivendor elements to enable co-packaging architectures, including live demos for the External Laser Small Form Factor Pluggable (ELSFP) external laser source form factor, co-packaged 3.2T copper cable assemblies, an operating linear optical module, and a variety of optical connectivity solutions as well as an expanded set of OIF member participants representing the growing ecosystem.