PASSAGE L20

Scalable BiDi Optical Interconnect

Industry’s first BiDi-enabled high-density near-packaged optics (NPO) and on-board optics (OBO) solution. Powered by Passage^™, delivering high-bandwidth optical interconnects for AI infrastructure.

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Bidirectional

1 fiber Tx / Rx

Minimizes Channel Loss

Efficiency

5 pJ/bit

Industry Leading

Density

88% smaller

By volume compared to OSFP

Form Factors

The NPO/OBO Advantage

Passage L20 brings the power of Lightmatter’s photonic technology to Near-Package and On-Board Optics form factors.

The Challenge

Switch and XPU bandwidths are scaling faster than electrical signaling can follow. Higher radix and longer PCB traces mean more power, worse signal integrity, and diminishing returns on SerDes. Pluggable optics can’t solve this—they’re bottlenecked at the faceplate, consume too much power, add too much latency with retimers, and fight for the same limited panel real estate as power and cooling.

L20 Implementation

L20 modules are placed on the host board in close proximity to the ASIC, shortening electrical trace lengths and reducing power consumption.

Its modular architecture enables flexible configuration of total bandwidth capacity, allowing systems to scale efficiently based on deployment needs.

Near Package

Near Packaged Optics (NPO)

Not every deployment requires a chip-package modification. Our Near-Packaged Optics (NPO) delivers the flexibility and performance of Lightmatter’s advanced interconnect technology in a modular, highly accessible format, with our bidirectional technology.

By deploying an L-Series module directly on the PCB or a mezzanine, you instantly gain the high bandwidth and long reach of optics without modifying your existing package.

On Board

On Board Optics (OBO)

For longer-reach applications with challenging signal integrity, the On-Board Optics (OBO) configuration uses a retimer to extend the reach between the Passage L20 and the host ASIC.

This architecture allows for more flexible placement on the PCB, enabling optimized thermal management and board layout while maintaining the high bandwidth.

Technical Specifications

Bandwidth

6.4 Tbps

Each direction

SerDes line rate

212.5 Gbps PAM4

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Data fibers

Corning CPO Flexconnect

Dimensions

37.5 mm x 26.4 mm

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Form factor

1827-ball BGA

Reflow compatible

Cooling

Cold plate

A2 ASHRAE compliant