At DesignCon 2026, Samtec showed active demonstrations across two generations of high-speed interconnect, with working silicon at 224 Gbps and a prototype pushing toward 448 Gbps.
The 224 Gbps story centered on the Si-Fly HD co-packaged copper (CPC) connector family, which ran counter to initial expectations. Samtec developed both on-package and near-package versions simultaneously, anticipating stronger interest in the near-package option. The market pushed back: at 224 Gbps, even a short transmission line between connector and chip introduces too much loss, so designers pushed for on-package placement. The result was broad adoption of the co-packaged version. Active demos at the show included the Si-Fly HD CPC connectors operating at 224 Gbps alongside a new 224 Gbps Si-Fly HD backplane system and Flyover OSFP Cable System, with partner silicon from Cadence, Broadcom, and Synopsys.
The 448 Gbps work is still in prototype stage. The industry hasn’t settled on a modulation scheme yet, creating the familiar chicken-and-egg problem: connectors and cables can’t be fully developed without test equipment, and test equipment development requires the connectors and cables. Samtec’s approach has been to lean on its RF product expertise. The company developed the Bulls Eye ISI board platform, and the new BE71A and BE130A test assemblies, which support measurements from 112 to 448 Gbps, are already being embedded by some test equipment vendors directly into instrument front panels rather than used as external fixtures. Active 448 Gbps demos were running in the booth, described as prototype-level but functional.
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