Luxshare Tech and Marvell Progress in Copper Interconnects with Hybrid AEC ACC Technology for High Performance AI Infrastructure and Data Center Ecosystems
Luxshare Tech and Marvell announced significant progress in copper interconnects with the unveiling of the 1st hybrid AEC ACC at OFC 2026. As indicated by the engineering demonstration, this new category of cables is intended to support the demanding performance and power needs of modern AI infrastructure. This collaboration aims to maximize within rack connectivity through a hybridization of the longer reach and power efficiency advantages of active electrical cables AEC and active copper cables ACC respectively.
Conventional active electrical cables typically employ an on board digital signal processor to retain signal integrity across distances ranging from 4 to 9 meters. Active copper cables, in comparison, are designed for reach of 2 meters and less using a combination of redrivers and equalizers. The hybrid solution from Marvell and Luxshare Tech bridges this performance gap by enabling reach up to 2.5 meters, providing an additional 25 percent more distance over a standard 2 meter 30 AWG ACC while using a fraction of the power a full AEC design typically draws.
The hardware presented uses a 30 AWG gauge to facilitate easy cabling and keep physical insertion losses minimized when implementing this design in highly dense server racks. A 1.6T Marvell Alaska A AEC DSP with 200 G per lane is utilized at the switch end, while a pair of 200 G per lane ACC redrivers manage 4 lanes each on the host end, emulating an NIC interface. Luxshare Tech brings to this partnership proprietary design elements and high performance signaling technologies to preserve data integrity, especially under strict mechanical constraints such as bending.
This hybrid prototype was shown to provide a bit error rate BER of 1e 9 under nominal conditions with standard middle range equalization, thus the hybridization of technologies is not degrading data integrity. It effectively delivers the lower latency and complexity of an ACC solution with the reach benefits more commonly found in higher power consuming AEC solutions. Both Marvell and Luxshare Tech state that this 2.5 meter prototype is the first of many future 3 meter and 4 meter variants to come, for which they have already commenced development.
This new category of connectivity will provide hyperscalers and data center providers with an option to select optimized links for all internal to the rack connectivity. Since Marvell is currently the only silicon provider to offer both AEC and ACC at 200 G per lane, they are positioned to champion this new interconnect category and offer a holistic 1 stop shop to simplify complex system design for the rapidly scaling requirements of AI systems.
The particular demonstration used a Y Cable configuration connecting two distinct 400 G NICs to one 800 G Top of Rack switch. This configuration is only 1 of several intended design flexibility options to meet hyperscaler needs going forward into 2026, where partnerships between organizations like Luxshare Tech and Marvell are focused on delivering a rich ecosystem of interconnect solutions that optimize reach, performance, and power.
