At the recent OIF 448G Workshop, Peter Winzer, Founder and CTO of Nubis Communications, emphasized the urgent need for holistic electrical-optical integration as the industry approaches 448G per-lane signaling. Winzer warned that without co-optimized system design, the reliance on gearboxes will undermine the power and thermal efficiency required for the next generation of AI-driven data center infrastructure.
In a forward-looking perspective, Winzer called for modulation formats that are directly drivable—without the need for gearboxes—from high-speed electrical interfaces (SERDES), thereby minimizing power overhead and simplifying the signal path. He also noted that technologies like PAM6 or PAM8 could be viable in optical domains, but only with innovations such as low RIN lasers, optical isolators, and careful mitigation of multipath interference (MPI).
