Adtran to Showcase Industry-Leading Open Optical Networking for the AI Era at OFC 2026 — From Ultra-Low-Power 800G Intra-Data Centre Connectivity to Quantum-Safe Transport, AI-Driven Automation, and Data-Sovereign Research
At Booth 1001 of OFC 2026 in Los Angeles (March 15–19), Adtran will demonstrate how intelligent, secure, and power-efficient optical networks are shaping the next phase of AI infrastructure — including the debut of LiteWave800™, operating at just 1pJ/bit; REAL AI explainable network automation; quantum-safe FSP 3000 S-Flex™ transport; multi-vendor OIF interoperability across 100G, 400G, and 800G ZR+ coherent pluggables; and sovereign AI innovation through the Optical Testbed Data Space (OTDS).
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Adtran (Nasdaq: ADTN; FSE: QH9), a leading global provider of open, disaggregated networking and communications solutions, has announced that it will showcase its latest optical innovations at OFC 2026, taking place March 15–19 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The company will present a broad portfolio of optical networking technologies at Booth 1001 designed to support scalable, energy-efficient AI infrastructure across data centre, transport, and access networks — spanning ultra-low-power intra-data centre connectivity, automated open optical transport, AI-enabled operations, quantum-safe networking, access and edge evolution, and data-sovereign AI research. Adtran experts will be on hand throughout the show for guided demos, conversations, and a range of speaking sessions.
"As AI workloads scale, network operators and cloud providers need an optical foundation that can keep pace with unprecedented demand for capacity and efficiency. Our technology is helping shape the AI era through open, power-efficient optical architectures and intelligent automation that change the economics of scale. At OFC 2026, we're demonstrating how operators can boost performance without increasing energy consumption or operational complexity."
— Christoph Glingener, CTO, Adtran
LiteWave800™ — A New Power Class for 800G Intra-Data Centre Connectivity
At the centre of Adtran's OFC 2026 showcase is the debut of LiteWave800™, a new class of ultra-low-power 800Gbit/s DR8 linear pluggable optics (LPO) module engineered for the power, latency, thermal, and bandwidth demands of modern AI and machine learning workloads. As GPU clusters grow and short-reach links scale across dense server racks, data centre operators face a hard constraint: first-generation 800G optics increase energy consumption, heat, and cost burdens at precisely the moment capacity requirements are accelerating most rapidly.
LiteWave800™ addresses this directly through a fully re-engineered architecture. Operating at just 1pJ/bit and consuming only 0.8W — between 12 and 18 times lower power than DSP-based pluggable transceivers — it establishes a new efficiency benchmark for 800Gbit/s connectivity, dramatically reducing the power and cooling envelope and giving operators a practical path to expand AI clusters without expanding their energy budgets. The module combines single-mode VCSEL technology with Adtran's in-house low-power electronics and integration expertise. By owning both the optics and electronics, Adtran optimises LiteWave800™ holistically at the module level — achieving efficiency gains that are not possible with discrete component designs. LiteWave800™ supports the LPO MSA specification and OSFP form factor, ensuring broad compatibility with existing host devices and enabling integration across multi-vendor environments.
REAL AI — Explainable, AI-Driven Automation for Network Operations
Alongside LiteWave800™, Adtran will demonstrate REAL AI — its platform for explainable, AI-driven automation in network operations. For operators managing increasingly complex optical environments, the challenge is not just generating data from network telemetry but translating that data into actionable insight at the speed and scale required to prevent outages and optimise performance. REAL AI addresses this by empowering operators to improve visibility, accelerate issue resolution, and reduce operational complexity — with explainability built into the automation layer so that operators understand why the system is recommending or taking particular actions, rather than having to trust a black-box recommendation.
Quantum-Safe Networking and Open Multi-Vendor Optical Transport
For mission-critical network operators, Adtran will feature the FSP 3000 S-Flex™, highlighting quantum-safe optical transport capabilities with ALM fibre assurance as a complementary layer for in-service monitoring, network integrity verification, and physical network intrusion detection. As quantum computing timelines accelerate, the window for deploying quantum-safe transport infrastructure in critical networks is narrowing — making the FSP 3000 S-Flex™'s combination of forward-looking cryptographic protection and in-service assurance increasingly relevant for government, financial services, and critical infrastructure operators.
On open optical transport, Adtran will participate in the OIF's multi-vendor interoperability demo at Booth 2017 — a live showcase bringing together 40 member companies to validate real-world operation across open optical networks. The demo features Adtran's CMIS-managed coherent ZR+ pluggable transceivers delivering 100Gbit/s, 400Gbit/s, and 800Gbit/s over open line systems, with the FSP 3000 open line system supporting C- and L-band, and Mosaic Network Controller playing a central role in a hierarchical multi-vendor control scheme. Adtran's 800Gbit/s ZR+ pluggables also feature in the OIF plugfest, reinforcing their role in large-scale multi-vendor deployments at scale.
"Interoperability is the foundation that enables open optical networks to scale with confidence. By validating multi-vendor, multi-speed pluggable optics alongside open line systems and domain control in a live environment, the demo shows that IPoDWDM networks have reached a new level of maturity — giving operators the flexibility to source technology more openly, integrate faster, and manage complexity more effectively as networks evolve to support AI-driven applications."
— Christoph Glingener, CTO, Adtran
Access Evolution, Data Sovereignty, and the SUSTAINET Research Initiative
Beyond its core commercial portfolio, Adtran's OFC 2026 presence extends into access, edge, and responsible AI innovation. Access and aggregation solutions — including 50G PON and innovative edge routing technology — will be shown supporting ultra-scalable, AI-ready services, with automated service-activation platforms extending intelligence from the core through to the customer edge. This "core through the door" architecture reflects the increasingly critical role of access networks in delivering the low-latency, high-bandwidth connectivity that AI applications at the network edge require.
On the research frontier, Adtran will highlight its leadership in SUSTAINET-Advance, a European collaborative research initiative focused on building sustainable, resilient, and sovereign optical infrastructure. It is also contributing to demonstrations of the Optical Testbed Data Space (OTDS) in the OFC Demo Zone — a collaboration with Fraunhofer HHI, Japan's NICT, and Trinity College Dublin that enables partners to develop and validate machine learning models for optical networks safely and across multiple domains without exposing sensitive network data. The OTDS uses a dataspace approach built on open-source Eclipse Foundation components and the International Data Spaces model for governed data sharing — ensuring that operators, vendors, and research partners retain full control over how optical network telemetry is shared and used, even as the AI models trained on it advance. Together, these initiatives reflect the company's commitment to responsible, standards-driven innovation and to enabling AI-ready networks while ensuring operational trust, data sovereignty, and long-term sustainability.
Key Takeaways
- Adtran will showcase a broad portfolio of AI-era optical networking technologies at OFC 2026 (March 15–19, Los Angeles, Booth 1001), spanning ultra-low-power intra-data centre connectivity, AI-driven automation, quantum-safe transport, open multi-vendor interoperability, access evolution, and data-sovereign AI research — demonstrating how intelligent, secure, and power-efficient optical networks underpin next-generation AI infrastructure
- LiteWave800™ — the flagship debut — is a new class of 800Gbit/s DR8 LPO module operating at just 1pJ/bit and 0.8W, between 12 and 18 times more power-efficient than DSP-based 800G optics, establishing a new efficiency benchmark for dense AI data centre fabrics where power and thermal constraints have become the dominant scaling constraint
- REAL AI will be demonstrated as Adtran's platform for explainable, AI-driven network operations automation — improving operator visibility, accelerating issue resolution, and reducing operational complexity with a transparent automation layer that empowers rather than replaces human decision-making
- Adtran plays a central role in the OIF's live multi-vendor interoperability demo at OFC 2026, bringing together 40 companies to validate 100G, 400G, and 800G ZR+ coherent pluggable transceivers operating across open line systems with multi-domain control — with Mosaic Network Controller coordinating across a hierarchical multi-vendor control scheme to demonstrate that open, standards-based architectures are deployment-ready at AI-era scale
- Beyond commercial products, Adtran is contributing to SUSTAINET-Advance and the OTDS federated testbed — enabling AI model training for optical networks across international research partners without compromising data sovereignty, using governed dataspace architecture built on Eclipse Foundation open-source components and the International Data Spaces model