Strategic Collaboration Targets AI Scale-Up Interconnect Bottlenecks
Keysight Technologies, and Point2 Technology today announced a strategic collaboration focused on validating next-generation, multi-terabit interconnect technologies designed to remove scale-up connectivity bottlenecks in artificial intelligence and machine learning data centers, as hyperscalers continue to expand xPU-based compute clusters to support increasingly complex and data-intensive AI workloads that demand unprecedented bandwidth, ultra-low latency, and power-efficient operation across densely interconnected systems.
Validation of Multi-Terabit Interconnect Performance
At the core of the collaboration is the joint validation of Point2 Technology’s power-efficient e-Tube™ interconnect platform using Keysight’s high-speed digital test and measurement solutions, with the goal of ensuring that the technology meets the stringent performance, reliability, and scalability requirements of hyperscaler-class AI infrastructure, where even minor signal integrity issues can significantly impact system performance and energy efficiency at scale.
Leveraging Keysight’s Advanced High-Speed Test Solutions
To support this effort, Keysight is deploying its industry-leading high-speed digital test portfolio, including the M8050A High-Performance Bit Error Ratio Tester (BERT) and DCA-X Sampling Oscilloscopes, enabling precise characterization and analysis of ultra-high-speed electrical links operating at multi-terabit data rates and allowing engineers to validate signal quality, error performance, and robustness under realistic operating conditions.
Addressing Exponential Bandwidth Growth in AI Workloads
As AI and ML workloads continue to drive exponential increases in bandwidth demand, hyperscalers face mounting challenges in scaling up xPU clusters, particularly in overcoming the physical limitations of traditional interconnect technologies that struggle to deliver the necessary reach, power efficiency, and latency performance required for next-generation AI architectures operating at scale.
e-Tube™ Technology and RF-Based Data Transmission
Point2’s e-Tube™ technology introduces a novel approach to scale-up interconnects by utilizing radio-frequency data transmission over plastic waveguides, targeting significantly extended reach compared to conventional copper-based interconnects while maintaining a comparable cost structure, enabling designers to overcome distance and density constraints that have historically limited copper interconnect performance in high-speed AI systems.
Extended Reach, Power Efficiency, and Latency Advantages
According to the companies, e-Tube™ technology is designed to deliver up to ten times longer reach than traditional copper interconnects at similar cost levels, while achieving approximately three times lower power consumption and cost, and delivering latency that is up to one thousand times lower than optical interconnect solutions, addressing critical trade-offs that hyperscalers must manage when balancing performance, energy efficiency, and total cost of ownership.
Eliminating Scale-Up Interconnect Bottlenecks in xPU Clusters
By offering an energy-efficient, high-density alternative to copper, e-Tube™ technology has the potential to replace existing electrical interconnects within xPU clusters and significantly reduce or eliminate scale-up bottlenecks that can constrain AI system performance, enabling more flexible cluster topologies and higher utilization of advanced compute resources across large-scale AI deployments.
Comprehensive Validation and Characterization Framework
As part of the collaboration, Keysight is providing a comprehensive validation and characterization framework designed to ensure that next-generation interconnects such as e-Tube™ meet the rigorous reliability, signal integrity, and compliance requirements demanded by hyperscalers, allowing early identification and mitigation of potential performance risks before large-scale deployment.
Enabling Early Research on 3.2 Terabit Interfaces
The partnership also enables early-stage research and development on emerging 3.2 terabit interfaces, with Keysight leveraging its unique capability to generate 448 Gbps electrical signals, combined with advanced real-time and sampling oscilloscope analysis, to help the industry explore and validate future interface standards well ahead of commercial adoption timelines.
Importance of High-Baud-Rate Signal Generation and Analysis
Generating and analyzing ultra-high-speed electrical signals is a critical challenge at multi-terabit data rates, and the collaboration leverages Keysight’s ability to support complex 120 GBaud PAM4 signaling, which is required to achieve 1.6 terabit speeds per lane, ensuring accurate characterization of eye diagrams, jitter, noise, and bit error performance under demanding operating conditions.
Role of M8050A BERT and DCA-X Sampling Oscilloscopes
Keysight’s M8050A High-Performance BERT and DCA-X Sampling Oscilloscopes play a central role in the collaboration by providing the precision measurement capabilities required to validate complex high-speed links, enabling detailed analysis of signal integrity and error mechanisms that could impact long-term reliability in large-scale AI data center deployments.
Accelerating Product Development Through Trusted Measurement
Sean Park, Chief Executive Officer of Point2 Technology, stated that the strategic partnership with Keysight provides access to world-class engineering tools and expert support, allowing Point2 to accelerate its e-Tube™ product development cycles, while the confidence gained from validating the platform using Keysight’s rigorous and trusted test equipment is described as invaluable when engaging with leading hyperscaler customers around the world.
Keysight’s Perspective on AI Scale-Up Innovation
Dr. Joachim Peerlings, Vice President of Network and Data Center Solutions at Keysight, emphasized that AI scale-up architectures require disruptive innovation at the physical interconnect layer, noting that Keysight delivers the industry’s trusted source of measurement truth and helps innovative partners like Point2 validate new technologies quickly and confidently at multi-terabit speeds to unlock the next wave of AI infrastructure breakthroughs.
Supporting Hyperscaler Reliability and Deployment Readiness
Through early validation and deep characterization, the collaboration aims to reduce deployment risk for hyperscalers by ensuring that next-generation interconnect technologies meet stringent reliability thresholds, supporting consistent performance across large-scale deployments and enabling smoother transitions from laboratory validation to production environments.
Broader Implications for AI Data Center Architectures
The collaboration between Keysight and Point2 reflects a broader industry trend toward rethinking interconnect architectures as AI data centers scale in size and complexity, with power efficiency, latency, and density emerging as key differentiators in enabling cost-effective and sustainable AI infrastructure.
Enabling Sustainable and Scalable AI Growth
By addressing power consumption and performance challenges at the interconnect level, the validated e-Tube™ technology has the potential to contribute to more sustainable AI data center designs, reducing energy overhead while supporting the massive data movement required by next-generation AI and ML workloads.
Resources for AI Data Center Innovation
The companies highlighted the growing importance of advanced interconnect validation in the development of AI data centers, underscoring the role of robust test and measurement solutions in accelerating innovation and de-risking deployment of new technologies in hyperscale environments.
About Keysight Technologies
Keysight Technologies (NYSE: KEYS) is a global leader in design, emulation, and test solutions, empowering innovators to bring world-changing technologies to life, and as an S&P 500 company, Keysight delivers market-leading capabilities that help engineers design, validate, and deploy faster with less risk across the entire product life cycle, serving customers in communications, industrial automation, aerospace and defense, automotive, semiconductor, and general electronics markets, while enabling innovation that connects and secures the world through trusted measurement and engineering excellence.
Source link:https://www.businesswire.com/
