Liquid Cooling Connection Solutions — Engineered for High-Speed Optical Modules
Miniature Liquid Cooling Blind-Mate Quick Disconnect Couplings
The rapid development of artificial intelligence has led to a sharp increase in optical module power consumption. To solve the heat dissipation challenges of high-bandwidth optical modules at 1.6T and overcome the limitations of air cooling, the application of liquid cooling technology in optical modules has become increasingly urgent. Liquid cooling effectively resolves the issue of transmission speed degradation caused by excessive heat during high-speed signal transmission, perfectly matching the thermal management needs of high-performance computing scenarios such as AI factories and data centers.
Although industry-standard OSFP (Octal Small Form-factor Pluggable) modules have successfully supported 400G, 800G, and 1.6T pluggable optical modules, achieving a switching capacity of 102.4T typically requires 2 RU (Rack Units). This makes it difficult to meet high-density computing demands and is not conducive to large-scale deployment in hyperscale environments.
To address these challenges, XPO (eXtra-density Pluggable Optics) was developed. XPO is a new form factor designed specifically for next-generation AI data center network architectures. Integrated with a liquid cooling cold plate, a single XPO module provides 12.8T of bandwidth—an 8-fold density improvement over OSFP.
(Figure: XPO Density Improvement — 1 XPO Equivalent to 8 OSFPs)
NETONX Mini‑QD Micro Blind‑Mate Quick Disconnect Connector
XPO optical modules utilize direct-plug liquid cooling technology, with the ultra-efficient Mini-QD (miniature blind-mate quick disconnect coupling) serving as the core component. The stable performance metrics of the Mini-QD coupling are the essential foundation for liquid cooling connection reliability. As an MSA Association member, Netonx Fluid is one of the world's few designated suppliers of Mini-QD quick disconnects for XPO optical module cold plates. On September 29, 2025, Netonx was invited to attend the ECOC conference session IPEC’s Outlook on Emerging Technologies in AI Optical Networks ("Liquid cooling Technology for AI infrastructure") to showcase the following Mini-QD products:
Core Technologies & Competitive Advantages of BCC/BPC Products:
Fully compliant with the latest XPO specifications, these products feature low insertion force and large misalignment tolerances across both radial and axial directions.
Currently, Netonx Fluid supplies BCC and BPC products to several leading XPO customers. In close collaboration with the MSA standardization body and through ecosystem partnership, we believe that cold-plate-integrated ultra-high-density XPO pluggable optical modules will become the mainstream cooling solution, providing vital support for speed upgrades in data center optical interconnects.
Netonx will remain dedicated to delivering safer and more energy-efficient liquid cooling quick disconnects for global computing power infrastructure.