MediaTek Develops Active Optical Cable Technology with Microsoft Research to Deliver Significant Improvements in Data Center Efficiency

CAMBRIDGE, England – March 17, 2026 – A collaborative team of researchers from MediaTek, Microsoft Research, and other suppliers have successfully designed a next-generation Active Optical Cable (AOC) powered by miniaturized MicroLED light sources. This revolutionary design of an Active MicroLED Cable can significantly improve power efficiency in data centers compared to current technologies. The use of an Active MicroLED Cable would also deliver high-reliability like copper but at a much farther reach.

Today’s data center networks compromise between reach, power, and reliability. Electrical copper links are energy-efficient but limited to less than 2 meters. Traditional laser-based optical links reach farther but are power hungry and suffer from failure rates up to 100 times higher than copper. By combining MediaTek’s engineering innovation with Microsoft Research’s MOSAIC technology, this new Active MicroLED Cable design helps solve this trade-off by replacing…