News Highlights：China’s 100G/200G electrical chips made a remarkable debut at OFC, with Minisilicon showcasing a series of cutting-edge solutions, including 100G/lane CDR for 400G/800G transceiver chipset, LPO transceiver chipset, AEC/ACC active copper cable chips, and its critical R&D 200G/lane projects for 800G/1.6T LPO transceiver chipset. These high-speed 100G/200G per lane solutions are driving the upgrade and development of optical communication.
ICC News– The globally anticipated OFC 2025 exhibition has concluded successfully, with this year’s focus on breakthroughs in ultra-high-speed optical module technologies such as 1.6T/3.2T. Leading companies showcased their cutting-edge solutions, while organizations like OIF and the Ethernet Alliance presented multiple high-profile joint demonstrations. As the largest exhibitor group at OFC, Chinese optical communication manufacturers contributed numerous high-end products, particularly in optical communication chips. The successful debut of China’s 100G/200G per lane solutions at OFC marks a major milestone in the industry’s transformation, breaking through the bottleneck of chip shortages.
One of the key representatives of high-end optical communication chips at this year’s OFC, Shanghai Minisilicon Technology Co., Ltd. (Minisilicon), introduced a series of advanced products and solutions for high-speed optical communication, including single-wavelength 100G 400G/800G CDR transceiver chipset, LPO transceiver chipset, and AEC/ACC active copper cable chips, which garnered significant attention from industry clients. Currently, Minisilicon is fully engaged in R&D for single-wavelength 200G 800G/1.6T LPO transceiver chipsets.
Domestic Single-Wavelength 100G/200G Chipset Debuts, Keeping Pace with Global Standards
According to ICC, Minisilicon’s single-wavelength 100G 400G/800G CDR transceiver chipset is specifically designed for 400G/800G optical modules, featuring cutting-edge design and advanced manufacturing processes. It offers high integration and low power consumption, meeting the demands of high-speed interconnects in data centers. The CDR/LPO transceiver chipsets provide flexible options with both VCSEL driver and silicon photonics driver solutions. Additionally, the company is actively developing single-wavelength 200G 800G/1.6T LPO transceiver chipsets, expected to enter tape-out and sampling in 2026. This not only represents an engineering leap from 100G to 200G but also signifies that domestic electrical chips have reached international standards.
Interview with Dr. Luo Gang, CEO of Minisilicon
Dr. Luo, CEO of Minisilicon, shared his insights with ICC Network, stating that China’s optical communication industry has achieved remarkable progress over 30 years, becoming the world’s largest industrial cluster in optical communication system equipment, devices, and modules. However, in the field of optical communication chips—including lasers, detectors, driver chips, TIAs, CDRs, and DSPs—Chinese manufacturers previously focused on 25Gbps and below, lagging behind foreign competitors.
Sustained R&D and Customer Focus: Targeting High-End Product Opportunities
As optical communication applications evolve from 25G/100G to 400G/800G and even 1.6T/3.2T, per lane Serdes rates have become critical for system upgrades. Currently, 112G/224G Serdes rates represent the industry’s cutting-edge solutions. Chinese manufacturers must not fall behind in this high-speed race—though keeping pace with global competitors presents both challenges and opportunities.
Minisilicon has seized the opportunity in high-end optical communication chips by aligning with market trends and implementing three key strategies:
Continuous R&D Investment: With a seasoned R&D team boasting over 25 years of commercial experience in optical communication chips, Minisilicon has developed mature short-reach chipset solutions for 112G per lane. For 224G per lane, the company plans major investments in 2025 to develop 224G TIAs, VCSEL drivers, and silicon photonics drivers, ensuring cutting-edge product iterations.
Deepening Customer Collaboration: Maintaining close partnerships with leading global optical module and equipment suppliers, Minisilicon stays attuned to market dynamics and customer needs, enabling targeted R&D and rapid product adaptation.
1.6T Data Communication Products: The development of 1.6T LPO VCSEL/silicon photonics transceiver chipsets is progressing steadily, with mass production expected in H2 2026. These high-end products highlight Minisilicon’s technological leadership and market competitiveness.
In the process of negotiating with the client
Refining High-End Analog Technology for Multi-Scenario Solutions
In high-end optical communication chips, the industry is debating between DSP (digital signal processing) and analog-based LPO (linear pluggable optics) technologies. Dr. Luo believes both will find their applications. While DSP-based modules dominate the market, LPO modules are already entering commercial use.
LPO imposes stricter technical requirements on driver and TIA signal equalization, reinforcing the potential of analog solutions. Minisilicon’s analog IC-based R&D supports LPO, SR4/SR8, AOC, and AEC/ACC applications, offering optimized solutions for various scenarios:
Analog CDR Technology: Recognized for excellence in 25G/50G per wavelength, Minisilicon is advancing analog CDR for 50GPON, 800G, and 1.6T to meet high-speed, low-power demands.
LPO Technology: With unique advantages in data center short-reach interconnects, Minisilicon’s LPO products are already applied in 800G modules and expanding to 1.6T.
AEC/ACC Solutions: With AI compute centers adopting ACC for card-to-card and AEC for rack-to-rack connections, Minisilicon has developed 100G AEC Retimer and ACC Redriver chips, enriching product offerings for AI clusters.
Embracing Monolithic Integration and Advancing Process Technology
Monolithic integration (chipset solutions) is a growing trend in optical transceiver chips, reducing interconnect loss, improving signal efficiency, and lowering power and cost. Minisilicon’s 100G/200G/400G solutions integrate CDR-enabled TIA and driver chipsets, delivering high performance, low latency, and cost efficiency.
Dr. Luo explained that monolithic integration differs significantly from single-chip development, requiring multi-module coordination in impedance matching, signal integrity, and power management. Another key trend is DSP-integrated analog chips, such as DSP-integrated driver LRO, enhancing signal integrity in high-end modules.
Minisilicon Team
To meet monolithic integration demands, analog manufacturers must innovate continuously, improving performance and integration. Minisilicon leverages advanced process technology to optimize 100G/200G analog transceiver chipsets, ensuring commercial viability in high-speed optical systems.
Conclusion
ICC observes that the optical communication industry integrates semiconductors, optical materials, automation, assembly, connectors, and system development. As the core underlying component, semiconductors and ICs dictate the industry’s evolution. To bridge the gap in high-end optical chips, China must intensify R&D, foster industry-academia collaboration, enhance process technology, and strengthen IP protection.
Minisilicon’s high-speed 100G/200G per lane solutions exemplify its commitment to R&D, process refinement, forward design, and domestic substitution, positioning it as a key player in advancing China’s optical communication industry.
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