March 16, 2026, Shenzhen, China. – The era of optical interconnects based on NPO/CPO is approaching. GIGALIGHT today announced the successful development of its XT-1.6T DR16 NPO linear silicon photonics engine, confirming that the NPO (Near-Packaged Optics) ecosystem—both domestically and internationally—has now taken shape.
XT-1.6T DR16-NPO Silicon Photonics Engine Overview
The 1600G NPO engine uses a socket-based packaging form factor, combined with LPO linear direct-drive technology and flip-chip bonding packaging technology.
Compared with traditional NPO/CPO architectures, the linear NPO silicon photonics engine eliminates the DSP, significantly reducing system-level power consumption and overall cost.
Product Photo
Application Scenarios
Key Features
1.6T CPO DR16 Silicon Photonics Engine
- 16 × 100G PAM4 architecture
- Supports up to 500 m transmission distance
- Power consumption < 16 W
EL-OSFP External Light Source Module
- Front-facing optical port design
- Supports 16-channel CWL high-power light sources
Key Performance Specifications
Transmitter:
The optical eye diagram shows excellent performance, with a typical TDECQ of only 2.2 dB. The module fully complies with the IEEE 802.3bs DR4 standard, enabling seamless interoperability with conventional DR4 optical modules that use DSPs, and supporting hybrid deployment of both new and legacy architectures.
Receiver:
At a BER of 1E-6, the sensitivity of all channels is better than –5 dBm, ensuring sufficient link budget for reliable operation.
The launch of the XT-1.6T DR16 NPO linear silicon photonics engine marks an important milestone for GIGALIGHT as it moves toward the next generation of high-integration 1.6T / 3.2T scale-up AI computing optical interconnects.
According to the roadmap, GIGALIGHT will soon introduce the second-generation 1.6T DR16 NPO linear silicon photonics engine, further validating its readiness for commercial deployment. Additional 1.6T and 3.2T NPO silicon photonics engines are also under active development.
The first-generation XT-1.6T DR16 NPO silicon photonics engine will be demonstrated live at OFC 2026 through GIGALIGHT’s commercial partners.
About GIGALIGHT
As an open optical networking explorer, GIGALIGHT integrates the design, manufacturing, and sales of both active and passive optical devices and subsystems. The company’s product portfolio includes III-V optical modules, silicon photonics modules and silicon-based NPO/CPO engines, liquid-cooled optical modules, passive optical components, Active Optical Cables (AOCs), Direct Attach Cables (DACs), coherent optical communication modules, OPEN DCI BOX subsystems based on coherent and O-band DWDM optical modules, and UHD SDI video optical transceivers. GIGALIGHT focuses on applications including AI data centers, 5G transport networks, metropolitan WDM transmission, and ultra-HD broadcast and video, positioning itself as an innovative designer of high-speed optical interconnect hardware solutions.