HYWICOM Showcases NPO and 1.6T Optical Test Solutions at CIOE 2026

[Shenzhen, September 9, 2026] – The 27th China International Optoelectronic Exposition (CIOE) officially opens at Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center. As 1.6T high-speed optical modules ramp into volume production and 3.2T/6.4T NPO (Near-Package Optics) solutions accelerate commercialization, these technologies have emerged as core highlights of the show. Meanwhile, the industry is facing a prominent “test gap”: conventional bit error ratio testers (BERTs) only support offline PRBS physical-layer testing and cannot generate live Ethernet service traffic. This disconnect between component-level characterization and full-system validation has become a major bottleneck for large-scale, high-quality deployment.

HYWICOM showcased its portfolio of cutting-edge test instruments at CIOE, featuring the FRAEO 16T2-NPO Network Tester and BERTO (BERT-Online) Live-Traffic BERT. These platforms address critical pain points in NPO system-level validation and 1.6T production testing, where laboratory test conditions can differ significantly from real-world operating environments. HYWICOM also showcased an optical sampling oscilloscope and an optical clock recovery instrument optimized for 1.6T optical module manufacturing tests. The opening day attracted extensive technical discussions with engineering teams from multiple optical module vendors and system OEMs.

01. FRAEO-NPO: Designed for NPO Validation Challenges

32-channel integration for direct switch-attached, system-level verification

Unlike conventional pluggable optical modules, the NPO architecture tightly couples optical engines with switching ASICs, with signal equalization, CDR and other core signal processing functions embedded inside the switch chip. The traditional split test methodology, which validates NPO optical engines and switches separately, often reveals interoperability and compatibility issues only late at the system integration stage.

Conventional BERTs further complicate NPO testing. First, traditional instruments typically support only eight electrical lanes, falling short of the 32 high-speed electrical channels required for NPO. Sequential testing or the use of multiple instruments becomes necessary, reducing throughput, introducing signal degradation through long cable interconnections, and compromising measurement confidence. Second, conventional BERTs generate only PRBS patterns and cannot establish valid Ethernet links carrying live service traffic. As a result, point-to-point component-level test results can differ significantly from actual switch operating conditions, contributing to the common industry problem of “passing lab tests but failing system bring-up.”

To address these challenges, HYWICOM’s FRAEO 16T2-NPO Network Tester features a purpose-built hardware architecture that evolves NPO testing from discrete component validation to full system emulation. The instrument integrates high-density electrical interfaces and natively generates 32 lanes of high-speed electrical signals without stacking multiple testers, eliminating signal integrity risks introduced by multi-box cabling. Each lane supports dual-rate 106G/212G PAM4, covering the full range of 3.2T and 6.4T NPO applications on a single platform while reducing test setup time, cost, and cycle time.

The platform adopts a dual-engine design combining a physical-layer PRBS pattern generator and a Layer 2 (L2) live Ethernet traffic engine. Under full 32-channel operation, it can simultaneously output physical-layer patterns and layer-2 service streams: it performs precise component-level characterization including eye diagram and BER measurements, while generating genuine L2 Ethernet traffic to connect directly to 3.2T/6.4T NPO-enabled switches. This recreates live-network operating conditions in the lab and eliminates test-condition mismatch.

Combined with HYWICOM’s proprietary NPO MCB test fixture and TEC thermal control system, the complete solution enables closed-loop end-to-end validation. Users configure custom MAC addresses and leverage native switch MAC forwarding to run batch sweep tests across up to 16 NPO optical engines inside a switch in a single run, drastically accelerating system validation. The solution covers thermal cycling, full-traffic stress, link perturbation and fault injection reliability profiles to closely mimic real-world NPO switch operation. It moves compatibility risk discovery forward from integration to early R&D, delivering end-to-end validation spanning physical metrics and service-layer performance. It aligns with system acceptance criteria of major cloud and carrier operators and shortens product iteration and customer qualification cycles.

A senior engineering lead from a leading switch vendor commented: “The NPO ecosystem has lacked standardized integrated test solutions. Traditional BERTs only cover the physical layer, while separate traffic generators are required for system service validation; the two datasets cannot be correlated, undermining measurement confidence. HYWICOM’s platform brings system co-verification forward into the R&D phase and addresses one of our most critical validation pain points with strong practical value.”

02. BERTO Live-Traffic BERT: Redefining 1.6T Production Testing

Combining offline PRBS characterization with live Ethernet traffic emulation

Acceptance criteria for 1.6T optical modules are evolving rapidly. For major end customers, pass/fail decisions are no longer based solely on offline PRBS BER performance. FEC behavior under live Ethernet traffic, error statistics, and receiver stability under stress have become mandatory qualification metrics.

Nevertheless, most 1.6T production lines still rely on legacy BERTs limited to offline PRBS testing without live traffic generation. This creates a critical validation gap: many modules pass production PRBS screening but suffer from link flapping or unexpected outages once inserted into switches carrying real traffic, introducing substantial risks for volume shipment and customer qualification.

To address this manufacturing challenge, HYWICOM also showcased the BERTO (BERT-Online) Live-Traffic BERT. A single instrument combines conventional offline PRBS physical-layer verification with live Ethernet traffic emulation. It retains established BERT capabilities for eye diagram analysis, BER measurement, and PRBS pattern testing while integrating a native L2 Ethernet traffic engine. This eliminates the need for complex multi-instrument test setups, enabling production lines to upgrade their 1.6T testing capabilities with improved total cost of ownership (TCO).

The BERTO product family includes optical, electrical, hybrid opto-electrical, and temperature-qualified variants. Equipped with four high-density 1.6T test ports supporting dual-rate 106G/212G operation, it is suitable for R&D debugging, production screening, and reliability validation.

Compared with single-function conventional BERTs, BERTO adds the missing service-emulation capability for 1.6T manufacturing, making production test results more representative of actual host operating conditions. It helps reveal latent defects, including abnormal FEC behavior and marginal receiver tolerance under stress, supporting demanding customer qualification requirements, mitigating delivery risks, and accelerating the commercial deployment of 1.6T optical modules.

As 1.6T optical modules scale toward volume production and NPO architectures move closer to commercial deployment, the test industry is shifting from physical-layer-only characterization toward service-driven, system-level validation. Showcased at CIOE, HYWICOM's FRAEO and BERTO platforms address NPO system validation and 1.6T optical module production testing, respectively. Their complementary, integrated testing capabilities provide a robust foundation for the continued development of the high-speed optical interconnect ecosystem.

03. 200G Optical Sampling Oscilloscope & Optical Clock Recovery Instrument

HYWICOM also introduced two new instruments: the 200G Optical Sampling Oscilloscope and the 200G Optical Clock Recovery Instrument. Both are designed for R&D verification and production testing of 1.6T/800G optical modules, silicon photonic chips, and NPO and CPO (Co-Packaged Optics) systems.

The 200G Optical Sampling Oscilloscope features a proprietary 60 GHz wideband optical sampling front end with four parallel measurement channels. It covers the 1200–1650 nm wavelength range and supports 106.25/112 GBd PAM4 signals, with a typical ultra-low noise floor of 12 μW. It supports standardized measurements specified by IEEE 802.3df and OIF, including TDECQ, OMA, and extinction ratio. Full SCPI command support enables seamless integration with mainstream automated test platforms. When deployed alongside BERTO live-traffic BERTs, it supports a closed-loop workflow spanning eye diagram and signal-quality analysis through to service-aware BER validation.

The companion 200G Optical Clock Recovery Instrument operates over a symbol-rate range of 24.3–120 GBd and supports both NRZ and PAM4 single-mode optical signals across the 1200–1650 nm wavelength range. Its hardware-based automatic clock recovery achieves typical recovered-clock jitter as low as 200 fs and provides recovered reference clock outputs, delivering a complete clock recovery solution for high-speed optical component and system characterization.

Together, these two instruments further expand HYWICOM's comprehensive test portfolio, spanning service-layer validation through to physical-layer characterization for high-speed optical interconnects.

04. Full Product Portfolio on Display

Joint demonstrations with 20+ ecosystem partners

In addition to the NPO-focused platform and BERTO series, HYWICOM exhibited its complete lineup of test instruments for 3.2T/1.6T/800G applications. Featured products included the FRAEO 16T2 1.6T multi-port network tester and PIANO portable 8-port 800G network tester, addressing test requirements across AI compute optical interconnect, high-speed datacenter and NPO integrated packaging use cases.

Over 20 ecosystem partners, including HG Genuine, CIG, PIOSEED, LIGENT, Source Photonics and Cerdo, ran joint performance demonstrations with HYWICOM test instruments at their respective booths. Multi-vendor live demos demonstrated stable operation and accurate measurements, validating cross-vendor interoperability, high-speed signal integrity and production-grade reliability of HYWICOM’s product family.

The exhibition demonstrated that HYWICOM has established an integrated test portfolio covering R&D validation, production screening, and system integration. This ecosystem-focused portfolio provides a cost-effective, rapidly deployable testing foundation to support standardization and volume commercialization across the supply chain. As optical module data rates continue to increase, test instrumentation capable of addressing diverse operating scenarios has become an important factor in shortening product time to market.

CIOE 2026 ran through September 11. HYWICOM welcomed visitors at two booths: Hall 10, Booth 10B62, and Hall 12, Booth 12A13, showcasing the latest developments in high-speed optical testing technologies.