Flat-panel maker AUO Corp (友達) yesterday said it is submitting samples of power-efficient micro LED modules to customers in preparation for commercial launch of new advanced packaging copackaged optics (CPO) used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.
“We believe micro LED-based CPO is very suitable for data transmission [of cables of up to] 10m. We are collaborating with AI supply chains and sending samples [to customers]. We are excited about” the opportunity, AUO chief technology officer Liao Wei-lung (廖唯倫) told a news conference for the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei this month.
“The technology is likely to be commercialized in two to three years at the earliest,” Liao said.
Photo courtesy of AUO Corp
AUO said that it is targeting the AI segment to accelerate its product diversification.
The company aims to create new revenue streams from AI-related businesses within two to three years, it said.
With years of technology development in micro LED displays, which are used in smart watches and would be used in auto displays soon, AUO is in an advantageous position in tapping into the micro LED CPO business, Liao said.
The company in February said that it would supply micro LED-based CPO modules as an alternative to copper cables, with the modules to replace short-distance, intra-rack or between-adjacent-rack copper links in AI server racks, enabling high-speed optical data transmission with better power efficiency.
AUO is in discussions with customers to commercialize the technology, it said.
Given the significant savings on power consumption, micro LED CPO is considered a promising optical interconnect alternative to copper cables, industry researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report on March 4.
The technology could save up to 95 percent in overall power consumption compared with the energy consumed using copper cable solutions, TrendForce said.
The annual Touch Taiwan trade show and technology forums, scheduled for Wednesday to Friday next week at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, is to highlight CPO and fan-out panel-level advanced packaging technologies, said Liao, who is also vice chairman of the Taiwan Display Union Association, which organizes the event.
AUO plans to showcase its micro LED CPO technology at the trade show, while its micro LED chip manufacturing arm, Ennostar Inc (富采), plans to present its high-speed vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser solutions, which are used at AI data centers as a light source for data transmission over fiber-optic cables for up to 100m.
Ennostar also plans to showcase its continuous-wave distributed feedback laser diodes for data communications, delivering a comprehensive portfolio to address diverse high-speed interconnect requirements across AI data centers, AUO said.
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