OIF Launches 7 New Projects Targeting 448G Electrical Interfaces, 200G Bidirectional Optics and Coherent Link Security
Introduction:
The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) has initiated seven new technical projects addressing the rapidly growing bandwidth, power-efficiency, optical connectivity and security requirements of AI infrastructure and next-generation data center networks. The projects were announced November 9 following OIF’s Q4 2026 Technical and Market Awareness & Education Committees meeting, held November 2–5 in Bangkok, Thailand.
More than 200 representatives from OIF member companies attended the meeting. The seven initiatives span high-speed electrical interfaces, bidirectional optical transmission, external laser sources, pluggable module management and coherent optical security. Collectively, they address important interconnection challenges as AI computing architectures require increasingly high-bandwidth connections between processors, switches, servers and data centers. All seven initiatives are at project-start stage. No implementation completion dates or independently verified performance gains were announced.
Seven New OIF Technical Projects:
1. Energy Efficient Interfaces (EEI) – 448G Retimed Transmit Linear Receive (RTLR)
This project will develop an Implementation Agreement (IA) for a 448 Gbps-per-lane electrical interface using a half-retimed architecture. RTLR combines a retimed transmit path with a linear receive path, offering another architectural option alongside fully retimed and linear interfaces.
The objective is to support higher electrical bandwidth while addressing power consumption, signal integrity and implementation complexity. It complements OIF’s expanding CEI-448G portfolio, which is intended to support the next generation of AI data center interconnects.
2. Bidirectional O-band Single-Mode Fiber (SMF) 200G/Lane
OIF will develop an IA for bidirectional optical connectivity operating at 200 Gbps per lane over O-band single-mode fiber.
Bidirectional transmission offers the potential to increase fiber utilization by supporting two-way communications over a fiber connection. This is relevant to AI scale-up architectures, where large numbers of high-bandwidth connections must be established between compute devices and switching infrastructure.
The project addresses the need for greater optical bandwidth density without proportionally increasing fiber infrastructure.
3. External Laser Small Form Factor Pluggable (ELSFP) IA 3.0
This project will develop the third revision of OIF’s ELSFP Implementation Agreement to address evolving requirements for external laser sources.
External laser architectures are important to co-packaged optics (CPO) and other advanced optical packaging approaches. Separating laser sources from optical engines can provide flexibility in thermal management, laser replacement and system design.
4. Type-3 Elongated ELSFP Supporting Electrical Power Class 8 (40W)
A related project will define an elongated Type-3 ELSFP variant supporting Electrical Power Class 8, rated at 40W.
This higher electrical power capability addresses the requirements of increasingly demanding external laser applications. It is important to distinguish the 40W electrical power classification from optical output power: the announcement does not specify 40W of emitted optical power.
Together, the two ELSFP projects reflect the importance of external laser technology as optical connectivity moves toward higher bandwidth density and more advanced packaging architectures.
5. MACsec Management for Pluggable Modules
OIF will develop an IA addressing management of Media Access Control Security (MACsec) functionality within pluggable modules.
MACsec, specified by IEEE 802.1AE, provides Layer 2 Ethernet link security, including confidentiality, integrity and data-origin authentication.
Bringing MACsec management into pluggable modules creates additional opportunities for consistent security configuration and management across optical networking equipment. This is increasingly relevant as high-speed optical links become integral components of distributed AI and cloud infrastructure.
6. CMIS Management Communication Interface (MCI) over USB
The Common Management Interface Specification (CMIS) is widely used to manage optical and electrical pluggable modules and communicate their capabilities and operating status to host systems.
The new project will develop a USB-based Management Communication Interface for CMIS. This provides another mechanism for communicating with and managing pluggable modules.
Standardized module management is essential as networks incorporate increasingly sophisticated optical components from multiple suppliers. It can simplify system integration, diagnostics and maintenance while supporting interoperability across vendors.
7. ZRsec (FlexOsec) for Coherent Optical Interfaces
The final project will define a common implementation approach for FlexOsec Layer 1 encryption in ZR coherent optical applications.
ZR coherent interfaces have become important building blocks for high-capacity data center interconnect (DCI), allowing routers and switches to connect over single-wavelength optical links.
As these links carry increasingly valuable AI, cloud and enterprise traffic, standardized encryption becomes an important consideration. A common approach to Layer 1 security can help vendors develop interoperable coherent optical implementations with consistent security capabilities.
Comment & Analysis:
The Bangkok initiatives span several complementary technical domains rather than a single data rate transition.
- The EEI-448G RTLR effort adds another electrical interface option alongside conventional retimed and linear architectures. Signal integrity, component power and implementation complexity will determine its suitability in next-generation high-density network equipment; the completed specification and interoperability testing will determine practical operating boundaries.
- Bidirectional 200G-per-lane O-band optics could help engineers address fiber utilization in AI scale-up links, although the project announcement does not define a specific accelerator-fabric protocol or system deployment.
- The two ELSFP projects address external laser sourcing and electrical power delivery, considerations for advanced optical packaging architectures. Importantly, a 40W module electrical power class is not a statement of optical output power.
- Security and module management are becoming integral to interface standardization. MACsec management in pluggable modules addresses Ethernet link-level functionality, while ZRsec/FlexOsec targets encryption in coherent optical applications. CMIS communication over USB concerns management access rather than payload bandwidth.
Impact on the Optical Networking Industry:
The seven initiatives address several interdependent challenges facing the optical networking industry.
- Bandwidth scaling: The 448G-per-lane electrical interface project and 200G-per-lane bidirectional optical project address the need for higher bandwidth density in AI computing systems. As accelerator clusters grow, electrical and optical interconnects must support increasingly demanding traffic volumes without creating unacceptable power and latency penalties.
- Power efficiency and optical packaging: The two ELSFP projects highlight the importance of external laser architectures in advanced optical systems. Higher-power laser applications, co-packaged optics and increasingly dense optical engines require standardized interfaces and management capabilities. Power consumption and thermal management remain major engineering constraints.
- Interoperability and operational management: CMIS and MACsec management projects address the growing complexity of managing and securing pluggable optical modules. Standardized management interfaces can reduce integration difficulties and improve compatibility among equipment and component suppliers.
- Optical link security: ZRsec/FlexOsec extends the industry’s interoperability efforts into coherent optical link encryption. Security must evolve alongside bandwidth and reach rather than remain an afterthought in next-generation network architectures.
These developments reflect challenges discussed by OIF President Nathan Tracy and board member Cathy Liu of Broadcom in a February 19, 2026 Lightwave interview.
Mr. Tracy emphasized that AI and machine-learning operators face difficult trade-offs involving power consumption, transmission reach and the physical connections required between GPUs and other computing resources. He also noted that the industry must agree on electrical and optical interfaces, modulation approaches and latency requirements. The interview highlighted OIF’s ongoing work on CEI-448G, energy-efficient interfaces, coherent optics, CMIS and interoperability. It also emphasized that developing practical solutions requires collaboration among OIF, IEEE, the Ethernet Alliance and other industry organizations. The seven newly initiated projects represent concrete follow-on technical work addressing several of those challenges.
Conclusions:
OIF’s latest initiatives illustrate how optical networking requirements are evolving beyond simply increasing transmission speeds. AI infrastructure requires coordinated advances in electrical signaling, optical connectivity, laser technology, module management and security.
The 448G electrical and 200G bidirectional optical projects are particularly relevant to scaling high-density AI networks. Meanwhile, external laser source development and standardized module management address the power, packaging and operational challenges associated with increasingly sophisticated optical systems.
As coherent optical links become more integral to data center interconnection, strong security will be needed, especially standardized encryption and management capabilities.
As noted above, these seven initiatives are newly initiated technical projects, not completed Implementation Agreements or commercially deployed solutions. Their eventual industry impact will depend on technical consensus, specification development, multi-vendor interoperability testing and commercial implementation.
OIF’s work is important because it brings optical component suppliers, system vendors, network operators and test-equipment companies together to develop common technical approaches. In an AI infrastructure market increasingly constrained by bandwidth, power consumption, physical connectivity and security, that interoperability work is becoming essential to scaling optical networking.
Looking Ahead to 2027:
OIF’s Q1 Technical and MA&E Committees Meeting will take place Feb. 22–26, 2027, in Charleston, South Carolina.
OIF is where the optical networking industry’s interoperability work gets done. With more than 25 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 180+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors collaborating to develop interoperable electrical, optical and control solutions that directly impact the industry’s ecosystem and facilitate global connectivity in the open network world. Connect with OIF on LinkedIn, on X, on Bluesky and at https://www.oiforum.com/.
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Sidebar: OIF–ITU-T relationship today (November 2026):
The OIF and ITU-T Study Group 15 (SG15) maintain an active, formal technical liaison relationship. They coordinate optical transport standards, interface specifications, management and interoperability—not by duplicating each other’s work, but by exchanging requirements, technical information and implementation experience. Current evidence includes SG15’s March 2026 liaison to OIF on timestamping accuracy with optical pluggables, followed by OIF’s June 2026 response. OIF is also listed as a liaison organization for current SG15 work on the G.709.1 and G.709.5 optical transport Recommendations.
SG13’s relationship with OIF is less direct. SG13 develops broader future-network architecture, AI-native networking and computing/network integration requirements. Those requirements feed into SG15’s optical-network work, including its ION-2030 framework. SG15 identifies OIF as a potential cooperating organization for optical transport and AI-related optical networking. Thus, the practical OIF relationship today is centered on SG15, with SG13 influencing the broader architectural and requirements environment.
| Organization / area | Primary responsibility today | Relationship with OIF |
|---|---|---|
| OIF | Industry-driven implementation agreements and interoperability for optical and electrical interfaces, coherent optics, pluggable modules and related technologies | Develops specifications and implementation agreements; coordinates with standards bodies to promote interoperable implementations |
| ITU-T SG15 | Optical transport, OTN, optical access, fibers, components, physical infrastructure, transport control and management | Direct, active liaison. Exchanges technical liaison statements; OIF is identified in relevant SG15 standards work, including G.709.1 and G.709.5 |
| ITU-T SG13 | Future network architecture, AI/ML for networks, network softwarization, orchestration and computing/network integration | Primarily indirect coordination. Its future-network and AI requirements inform SG15’s optical-network work; current evidence does not establish the same level of direct OIF liaison as SG15 |
In summary, OIF remains an industry implementation and interoperability forum, while ITU-T SG15 provides the international standards framework for optical transport and infrastructure. Their relationship is complementary and active. ITU-T SG13 shapes the broader future-network requirements that increasingly influence this work.
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References:
https://convergedigest.com/oif-seven-projects-448g-ai-optics-zrsec-2026/
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