Suzhou Chipsens Technology, a Chinese manufacturer of MEMS devices, has introduced a standard chip featuring a large array of micro-mirrors in an accessible format. This move aims to localize key components for Optical Cross-Connects (OCS) and support self-sufficient infrastructure for artificial intelligence computing.
OCS technology is gaining popularity amid the growing demand for AI computing, which is pushing computing clusters toward supernode architectures and faster connections. Optical switches transmit data as light, avoiding the electrical-to-optical conversions characteristic of electronic switching, thereby ensuring high throughput with low latency.
Google actively utilizes this technology, equipping its seventh-generation TPU Ironwood clusters with over 2000 OCS switches each, while NVIDIA is developing an Ethernet ecosystem around its Spectrum-XGS product.
Several competing technical solutions exist, including MEMS, digital liquid crystal, piezoelectric, and optical waveguide designs. MEMS technology is the most mature and holds over 70 percent of the OCS market, as it successfully combines port expansion with cost-effectiveness; both Google and Lumentum are developing based on this technology.
Founded in 2019, Chipsens controls all stages of MEMS chip production: design, wafer fabrication, packaging, and module integration. The company initially focused on pressure sensors and micro-mirror modules for the automotive, industrial, medical, and consumer sectors. In 2025, the company unveiled a large-scale micro-mirror array for OCS with 320x320 channels, and in August 2026, launched the standard chip to the market.
This chip incorporates 416 independently rotating mirror elements on silicon in a package measuring 33.6 by 20.85 millimeters and approximately 0.66 millimeters thick. It features a deflection angle of plus-minus 6.5 degrees on the X-axis and 5.5 degrees on the Y-axis, an infrared reflectivity of at least 96 percent, a response time of less than 10 milliseconds, a lifespan exceeding a billion cycles, a mass production yield better than 90 percent, and supports products with 400x400 ports.
By lowering the entry barrier, the standard chip enables both domestic and international clients to rapidly create custom OCS solutions for AI data centers and backbone networks. Switching in the optical domain could potentially reduce data center energy consumption by about 40 percent, making it a suitable candidate for reconfigurable optical layers in 100,000-card training clusters. Chipsens plans to scale production up to 1024x1024 ports. In August, the company completed a funding round led by the investment arm of SMIC, SMIC Capital, to expand micro-mirror manufacturing capacity and advance next-generation products.