Feature: Thermal management
Thermal
management in AI, cloud and telecoms setups By Andrew Dereka, Thermoelectrics
Product Director, Tark Thermal Solutions
T
hermal management has become a critical concern in AI-driven data centres, cloud infrastructures and telecom networks, particularly as pluggable optical transceivers scale to higher speeds and densities. Pluggable optical transceivers are critical components, enabling high-speed data
communication between servers and network devices in modern AI clusters and large-scale data centres. With speeds progressing from 100Gbps to 800Gbps and toward 1.6Tbps and beyond, these modular devices facilitate flexible network upgrades and capacity scaling. Controlling heat has surpassed signal integrity as the main challenge for ensuring hardware longevity and reliability and is now a central factor driving future design strategies in these applications.
Speed evolution and thermal challenges Te push for higher data rates in pluggable transceivers parallels a dramatic rise in module power consumption, oſten scaling by a factor of 1.5-2X with each device generation; see Figure 1. Where 100G transceivers served entry-level data centre needs, 400G and 800G transceivers dominate current AI cluster implementations. For example, while 400G transceivers average 8-12W, 800G versions can require 14-18W, and 1.6T modules may require 23-35W with high-end ZR coherent models at 30-35W. Emerging 1.6T modules support next-generation workloads and enhanced parallelism with planned speeds jumping to 3.2T. Te increased heat in modern rack enclosures is primarily
caused by densely packed active components, including CPUs, GPUs, high-speed optical transceivers and advanced DSPs,
30 November 2025
www.electronicsworld.co.uk
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