High Speed Copper Interconnects

Overview

High-Speed Copper Interconnects refers to the ecosystem of copper-based cabling and connector technologies carrying data at 224 Gbps and 448 Gbps per lane within and between AI data center racks. Despite optical interconnect growth, copper remains dominant for short-reach connections (under 3–5 meters) due to lower cost, latency, power, and simpler deployment.

The industry extends copper viability through innovations in cable construction (woven flat cables, thin-gauge conductors), connector design (compression, flyover, co-package), and signal integrity techniques (retimers, gearboxes). Key challenges at 448G include channel loss budgets, thermal management, and backward compatibility. Co-Packaged Optics is the primary alternative for longer-reach connections above the copper threshold, while Astera Labs retimers extend the copper reach envelope through active signal conditioning.