At this year’s European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC) in Copenhagen, Alphawave Semi (LSE: AWE) is positioning itself at the forefront of the AI-driven connectivity revolution. Known for its high-speed connectivity and compute silicon that underpins the world’s technology infrastructure, the company is using the stage at the Bella Center to highlight how its silicon-proven technologies are helping hyperscalers and system builders unlock the next wave of accelerated AI compute.
Building on the DSP innovations it launched earlier at OFC, Alphawave Semi is bringing forward a suite of production-ready solutions designed to extend both electrical and optical communication to unprecedented scales. With PAM4 SerDes forming the backbone of its offering, complemented by its proprietary WidEye™ DSP and EyeQ™ diagnostics, the company is tackling one of the most pressing challenges in the AI era—moving massive amounts of data at speed, efficiency, and distance. Alphawave Semi’s portfolio is now capable of reaching up to 20 km across high-performance connectivity channels, a vital enabler for cloud and AI data center deployments.
On display at ECOC 2025 is a lineup of solutions reflecting how the company has diversified its DSP technology. Cu-Wave™ focuses on PAM4 DSP for Active Electrical Cables (AEC), O-Wave™ serves optical retimer and gearbox transceivers, while Co-Wave™ delivers a coherent-lite DSP solution for optical transceivers. Together, these form a unified ecosystem of electrical-to-optical building blocks, ensuring robust connectivity in an era where AI workloads demand exponential increases in bandwidth.
Alphawave Semi is also unveiling advancements in chiplet technologies, which are rapidly becoming the foundation of modular system design. Demonstrations include 224G PAM4 electrical SerDes and 224G XLR IP subsystem solutions, pushing the boundaries of performance for next-generation high-speed interconnects. A 1.6T I/O chiplet portfolio is being highlighted, further supported by interoperability demos at 112G with PCIe and Ethernet, showing multi-vendor collaboration in practice. One of the more significant breakthroughs is the 36G UCIe Die-to-Die (D2D) IP subsystem, implemented on TSMC’s 3nm process, enabling live traffic at 36 Gbps per lane while being primed for scaling up to 64 Gbps. This addresses the emerging demand for optical I/O chiplets and die-to-die interconnects in advanced AI architectures.
Beyond SerDes and chiplets, the company is also presenting an optical PCIe subsystem showcasing interoperability with golden reference link partners. This highlights Alphawave Semi’s ability to extend PCIe over optics—a crucial innovation as traditional copper signaling approaches their limits. Its active engagement in interoperability testing through the OIF and Ethernet Alliance reinforces its strategy of building not just proprietary technologies, but an ecosystem of collaborative, standards-aligned solutions.
By leveraging its advanced IP subsystems and multi-vendor chiplet demonstrations, Alphawave Semi is making a clear statement at ECOC 2025: the future of AI compute, cloud platforms, and high-performance infrastructure depends on seamless, silicon-proven interconnects across every layer—electrical, optical, and chiplet. With demand for accelerated computing growing at an unprecedented pace, the company’s innovations are positioned to become the bedrock of next-generation data center connectivity.
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