In order to directly respond to the power issues in the era of generative AI, NTT will deploy a “photoelectric fusion device” that opticizes the internal wiring of servers from FY2026, and will accelerate the spread of IOWN at once in collaboration with domestic and overseas suppliers.
🟧IOWN to start in earnest – NTT to sell photoelectric fusion devices in FY2026
NTT will release a conversion device (photoelectric fusion device) that switches data transmission between server boards from electricity to light next fiscal year, and will sell it in earnest from fiscal 2026. The core components will be supplied by NTT Innovative Devices and Broadcom, and will be mounted on Shinko Electric’s package board. We aim to penetrate into cloud/AI servers through Acton’s sales channels in Taiwan.
- Main contents: Commercialization of a conversion module that converts transmission between boards into photonics, and the actual operation phase of IOWN popularization.
- Technical features: Optical signals with low attenuation achieve high bandwidth, low latency, low power consumption, and suppress heat generation.
- Market/Application: Generative AI servers, cloud operators, and data center switch/interconnect renovations.
🟧 Breaking through power and bandwidth bottlenecks with light: Background to accelerating competition
AI learning and inference have rapidly increased data movement, and the limitations of bandwidth, distance, and power have become apparent in electrical wiring. The strength of light is that it is easy to maintain signal quality even over long distances and reduce energy per bit. Japan has been ahead in IOWN, but the United States (e.g., NVIDIA) and China have also positioned optoelectronic convergence as strategic areas, and competition for standardization, mass production, and implementation know-how is intensifying. NTT plans to introduce next-generation products that “directly connect semiconductors and components with light” by 2028, and Furukawa Electric is expected to participate. The key is to build a system that bundles everything from hardware (optical engines/packages) to supply chains and sales networks.
🟧Summary
NTT’s photoelectric fusion device is an implementation solution that aims for power saving, high bandwidth, and low latency at the same time by photonicizing the internal wiring of the server. In collaboration with Broadcom, Shinko Denko, Acton, etc., we will increase the accuracy of mass production and market penetration, and from ’28 onwards, we will expand to optical interconnects directly connected to chips and packages.
I hope that the “calculator that connects with light” from Japan will open the door to an era where efficiency wins.
