NVIDIA and Cisco want AI computers to spend less time waiting for data – The Gadgeteer

Powerful AI computers can spend time waiting for data from one another. When a job is spread across many machines, those machines need to keep exchanging information. Faster chips make that communication problem more important: the connections have to keep up.

NVIDIA and Cisco announced plans on October 12 for a new connection module designed to move more data between AI computers. Called USFP, it’s a small, removable piece of networking hardware for the equipment inside data centers.

The idea is straightforward. Give the computers a wider road to send data down, so their connections can handle more traffic as the system grows.

What changes inside the data center

An optical module connects networking equipment to fiber-optic cables, which carry information using light. Operators plug these modules into switches, the devices that direct traffic between machines.

USFP packs more capacity…