Wedoany.com Report on Mar 6th, Chip design company Marvell Technology, Inc. recently announced the expansion of its technology portfolio with the launch of the industry's first 1.6T ZR/ZR+ data center interconnect pluggable modules featuring Media Access Control Security (MACsec) functionality, alongside a series of coherent Digital Signal Processors (DSP) based on advanced 2nm process technology. This new series of products aims to meet the growing demand for high-performance, energy-efficient data center interconnectivity driven by distributed artificial intelligence workloads, by enhancing connection security.
The core product of this launch is the COLORZ 1600. As the world's first 1.6T ZR/ZR+ pluggable module, it is powered by Marvell's latest Electra 2nm coherent DSP, covering connection distances from intra-campus to regional data centers. Also released is the Libra 2nm 800G ZR/ZR+ coherent DSP, which will power the second-generation COLORZ 800 pluggable products and achieve further optimization in power consumption control. The addition of these two new products significantly expands Marvell's coherent DSP and pluggable portfolio, providing high-efficiency and high-performance optical transport solutions for global AI and cloud data center networks.
With the continuous growth of distributed AI training and inference workloads, ZR/ZR+ coherent connectivity technology is playing an increasingly critical role in expanding high-bandwidth, low-power networks. Market research institutions predict significant growth in demand for coherent pluggable modules by 2030. In response to this trend, Marvell is enhancing its internal manufacturing capabilities in preparation for mass production to support the global deployment of AI hyperscale data centers and cloud infrastructure.
Russ Esmacher, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Marvell's Data Center Interconnect business, stated: "Marvell pioneered the industry's first ZR pluggable product with hyperscale customers nearly a decade ago and has continued to lead coherent technology development ever since. Beyond technological leadership, meeting the surging global demand from AI-driven data centers requires proven, large-scale manufacturing strength. We are actively expanding our pluggable product manufacturing capacity to help customers deploy new technologies rapidly, enabling them to scale their networks efficiently."
Scott Wilkinson, Principal Analyst at industry analysis firm Cignal AI, noted: "The pluggable coherent market is large and increasingly competitive. Maintaining a leadership position in this space requires exceptional power efficiency, key feature sets, and the ability to manufacture at scale. Marvell has consistently pioneered innovation across multiple generations of coherent DSPs, and its migration to 2nm solutions underscores a strong commitment to higher density, stronger performance, and lower power consumption."
In terms of technological innovation, the COLORZ 1600 possesses several key features. It supports chip-level MACsec encryption security and ensures full interoperability across multiple modes including OIF, OpenZR+, and OpenROADM. The module adopts an OSFP form factor, supports both C-band and L-band operation, and significantly reduces power-per-bit consumption compared to existing solutions. The COLORZ 800, powered by the Libra coherent DSP, is designed to help cloud operators securely scale data center interconnects with lower capital expenditure and offers broad interoperability in QSFP-DD or OSFP form factors.
From developing the first ZR pluggable product nearly a decade ago to now pioneering the 1.6T solution, Marvell has consistently set the pace for industry innovation across multiple product generations. Today, the company has built a comprehensive end-to-end coherent pluggable and DSP portfolio, widely covering various application scenarios such as coherent-lite, campus interconnect, and Data Center Interconnect (DCI), supported by large-scale manufacturing capabilities.
It is reported that the Electra and Libra coherent DSPs, along with the COLORZ 1600 and Libra DSP-based COLORZ 800 pluggable products, are expected to begin sampling to customers in the second half of 2026. At the upcoming OFC 2026 (Optical Networking and Communication Conference and Exhibition) taking place from March 15 to 19, 2026, at the Los Angeles Convention Center in the United States, Marvell will comprehensively showcase its connectivity portfolio, with the current generation of ZR/ZR+ coherent solutions also being exhibited.
