NVIDIA and Cisco Propose USFP Optics Standard at OCP 2026

At the OCP Global Summit 2026, NVIDIA and Cisco introduced the Ultra-Dense Small Form Factor Pluggable (USFP) standard, targeting 400Gb/s per lane, roughly four times the bandwidth density of current 200Gb/s-per-lane pluggable optics, in approximately the same footprint as the existing OSFP form factor. The module supports 16 full-duplex lanes with a roadmap to 32, and NVIDIA claims approximately 1.3x greater power efficiency compared to current 200Gb/s pluggables. NVIDIA and Cisco plan to submit USFP as an open industry specification through a community-led multi-source agreement, with TE Connectivity and Amphenol involved; no sampling schedule or availability date has been announced. Separately, NVIDIA contributed Vera Rubin rack-level designs to the Open Compute Project at the same summit, extending its MGX architecture that was first shared with OCP the prior year. NVIDIA also presented DSX AI factory software updates, MGX 1.2, 800 VDC power specifications, and Ethernet work developed with Meta and Google as part of its OCP contributions. NVIDIA describes its datacenter strategy in terms of 'giga-scale AI factories' that integrate compute, power, and cooling as a unified design.