First 1.6Tbit/s PAM4 DSP on 3nm process
Marvell Technology has launched the industry’s first 3nm 1.6 Tbit/s PAM4 interconnect platform for datacentre AI.
The Ara platform uses 200 Gbit/s SERDES electrical and optical interfaces and builds on the Nova 2 DSP, a 1.6 Tbit/s PAM4 DSP built on a 5nm process.
The move to 3nm with integrated optical modulator drivers has reduced the optical module power by over 20%, reducing operational costs and enabling new AI server and networking architectures to address the need for higher bandwidth and performance for AI workloads.
Ara integrates eight 200 Gbit/s electrical lanes to the host and eight 200 Gbit/s optical lanes, enabling 1.6 Tbit/s in a standardized optical module.
“Ara sets a new industry standard by leveraging advanced 3nm technology to deliver significant power reduction, driving the volume adoption of 1.6 Tbit/s connectivity for AI infrastructure,” said Xi Wang, Vice President of Product Marketing for Optical Connectivity at Marvell. “With a co-optimized companion TIA, our next-generation PAM4 optical DSP platform empowers customers to scale generative AI and large-scale compute applications with best-in-class performance and unmatched energy efficiency.”
“Ara is another Marvell optical connectivity industry-first solution, delivering the power efficiency required for the most demanding AI workloads,” said Osa Mok, chief marketing officer, InnoLight Technology. “The Ara platform combined with InnoLight’s advanced high-speed optical transceiver design and manufacturing expertise, offers the industry a state-of-the-art pluggable module optimized for next-generation AI and cloud infrastructure.”
“We anticipate unit shipments of PAM4 DSPs will more than triple from 2024 to 2029 to nearly 127 million units a year and remain the primary optical technology for connecting assets inside data centres for the foreseeable future,” said Bob Wheeler, Analyst at Large, LightCounting. “Ara demonstrates that PAM4 technology continues to evolve to meet the challenges of AI infrastructure.”
The PAM4 modulation provides efficient high-speed data transmission which is critical for AI and cloud applications while the integrated, high-swing laser driver improves performance while reducing overall transceiver module design complexity and power consumption. An enhanced crossbar switch design improves routing flexibility across channels.
Ara has support for both InfiniBand and Ethernet protocols for interconnect flexibility across diverse network topologies, enhancing adaptability for accelerated infrastructure, and will sample to select customers in Q1 2025.
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