Key Takeaways
- • Resolight.ai applauded Advanced Photonics Coalition (APC) co-packaged optics (CPO) specifications, announced at the Optica + APC PECC Summit, that address the protocol integration needed for native photon routing through nanosecond optical circuit switching (OCS).
- • Resolight claims its architecture targets up to 40× better network energy efficiency and up to 75% fewer optical transceivers in multi-rack AI scale-up networks, though it states actual benefits depend on topology and implementation.
- • Dell'Oro Group forecasts nearly $1 trillion in cumulative AI back-end switch spending during 2026–2030, a market Resolight says native photon routing could help it address.
- • Raymond James's private company profile says the technology is not yet proven and faces standardization and manufacturing hurdles, but could disrupt or partner with major AI switching vendors if successful.
Summary
Resolight.ai, a Sunnyvale, California-based company developing nanosecond optical circuit switches for AI networks, welcomed specifications from the Advanced Photonics Coalition (APC) that address the data-plane protocol integration needed for native photon routing. The specifications were announced at the Optica + APC PECC Summit. Resolight CEO and co-founder Ofer Shapiro said the APC specifications mark an important milestone by connecting photonic engines with the protocol coordination required to make the architecture practical.
The announcement is framed against the cost of serving AI at scale. The company cites McKinsey's analysis identifying the cost of serving AI as a barrier to widespread adoption, with energy and latency costs of moving data a target for semiconductor innovation. Conventional OCS reconfigures optical connections while electronic switches continue to handle data switching. Native photon routing extends optical switching into the data plane, keeping payloads in the light domain and avoiding repeated optical-to-electrical-to-optical conversions. Resolight says this targets up to 40× better network energy efficiency and up to 75% fewer optical transceivers, which it argues could reduce networking power, hardware requirements and infrastructure footprint amid optical supply constraints. These figures are company claims, and the company notes actual benefits depend on topology and implementation.
Resolight argues that practical nanosecond OCS requires both fast switching and system-level coordination, since endpoints must manage transmission windows, contention and receiver readiness for incoming bursts. Resolight says its approach targets both data-switching latency and energy consumption.
Dell'Oro Group forecasts nearly $1 trillion in cumulative AI back-end switch spending during 2026–2030. Dell'Oro Vice President Sameh Boujelbene said AI back-end switch sales overtook front-end networks for the first time in the second quarter, and that the APC specification including nanosecond OCS is an important step toward broader adoption. In a Raymond James private company profile published July 30, 2026, analysts Simon Leopold, Jeff Koche and Victor Chiu wrote that the technology is not yet proven and faces standardization and manufacturing hurdles, but could disrupt or partner with leaders such as NVIDIA, Broadcom, AMD, Marvell, Arista, Cisco, HPE, Lumentum and Coherent. Resolight invited accelerator developers, optical interconnect providers and network platform partners to collaborate on interoperable systems.
The announcement is framed against the cost of serving AI at scale. The company cites McKinsey's analysis identifying the cost of serving AI as a barrier to widespread adoption, with energy and latency costs of moving data a target for semiconductor innovation. Conventional OCS reconfigures optical connections while electronic switches continue to handle data switching. Native photon routing extends optical switching into the data plane, keeping payloads in the light domain and avoiding repeated optical-to-electrical-to-optical conversions. Resolight says this targets up to 40× better network energy efficiency and up to 75% fewer optical transceivers, which it argues could reduce networking power, hardware requirements and infrastructure footprint amid optical supply constraints. These figures are company claims, and the company notes actual benefits depend on topology and implementation.
Resolight argues that practical nanosecond OCS requires both fast switching and system-level coordination, since endpoints must manage transmission windows, contention and receiver readiness for incoming bursts. Resolight says its approach targets both data-switching latency and energy consumption.
Dell'Oro Group forecasts nearly $1 trillion in cumulative AI back-end switch spending during 2026–2030. Dell'Oro Vice President Sameh Boujelbene said AI back-end switch sales overtook front-end networks for the first time in the second quarter, and that the APC specification including nanosecond OCS is an important step toward broader adoption. In a Raymond James private company profile published July 30, 2026, analysts Simon Leopold, Jeff Koche and Victor Chiu wrote that the technology is not yet proven and faces standardization and manufacturing hurdles, but could disrupt or partner with leaders such as NVIDIA, Broadcom, AMD, Marvell, Arista, Cisco, HPE, Lumentum and Coherent. Resolight invited accelerator developers, optical interconnect providers and network platform partners to collaborate on interoperable systems.
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