NVIDIA and Cisco Introduce USFP for AI Networking

NVIDIA and Cisco have partnered to develop USFP, a compact, pluggable form factor designed for optical networking in AI systems. The source describes USFP as fitting four times the bandwidth density of an OSFP module into an OSFP-sized module.

USFP supports speeds of up to 400 Gb/s per lane and a total capacity of up to 12.8 Tb/s, according to the source. The companies are presenting it as a way to address the growing networking demands of AI factories, where more systems need to connect as facilities expand.

Those demands include higher bandwidth per connection and more connections per switch, alongside the need to manage network complexity, power, and costs. The source does not provide further details about availability or specific products using USFP.