Electronics Weekly Electronics Design & Components Tech News
For hyperscale data centres, 
preparing for ‘co-packaged optics’ (CPO) Molex has announced a pluggable module for external laser sources, with a cage and blind-mating hybrid optical-electrical connector.
It is called Elsis.
“Traditional pluggable modules have their optical connections at the user side of the module, creating concerns about eye safety when used with high-power laser sources, such as those planned for CPO,” according to the company. “As a blind-mating solution, Elsis eliminates user access to optical fiber ports and cables, providing a complete external laser source system for safe, easy implementation and maintenance.”
CPO?
CPO shortens electrical connections by moving optical connections from the front panel to deeper inside the host system, next to the high-bandwidth networking chips, GPUs and AI engines
Moving the laser outside, takes one source of heat away, said Molex, “plus, the design eliminates high-speed electrical I/O drivers on the IC and in pluggable modules, further reducing thermal loads and power consumption within the equipment,”
Elsis is sampling now and planning production in Q3 2023 “for the fully integrated solution”, it said.
It will be on display at ECOC 2022 (18-22 September 2022, Basel Switzerland).
