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AI supply chain term

DWDM

DWDM (dense wavelength-division multiplexing) is a technique that sends many separate data streams down one optical fiber at once, each carried on a slightly different wavelength, or color, of light.

What it means

DWDM lets a single strand of fiber carry dozens of independent channels simultaneously by assigning each to its own tightly spaced wavelength, multiplying the capacity of installed fiber without laying new cable. It sits in the optical-interconnect layer of the AI supply chain, linking data centers to one another across metro and long-haul distances, and it is the workhorse of subsea and terrestrial backbones. As AI training and inference spread across multiple buildings, regions and sovereign clouds, the traffic between sites rides DWDM systems. It is a lever because it stretches scarce fiber and long-haul routes much further; it is a constraint because the transponders, amplifiers and precise lasers involved are specialized, and cross-region bandwidth is ultimately bounded by the physical routes that already exist.

Why it matters to investors

DWDM is how AI workloads move between sites when a single building is not enough, so demand tracks multi-region and cross-border buildouts. Systems supplier Nokia (NOK), fiber maker Corning (GLW), and optical-component makers Accelink (002281.SZ) and Eoptolink (300502.SZ) are positioned along this long-haul layer.

Companies on this part of the chain

Nokia CorporationNOKCorning IncorporatedGLWAccelink Technologies Co., Ltd.002281.SZEoptolink Technology Inc., Ltd.300502.SZ

Named to show where the term sits in the AI supply chain — research, not advice, and never a recommendation to buy or sell.

Related terms

Subsea cableA subsea cable is an undersea fiber-optic line laid across the ocean floor to carry data between continents — the physical backbone for the overwhelming majority of international internet traffic.Optical transceiver / photonicsA module that converts electrical signals to light (and back) for optical links.Silicon photonicsSilicon photonics is the practice of building optical parts — lasers, modulators, waveguides and detectors — on silicon chips using standard semiconductor manufacturing.Co-packaged optics (CPO)Co-packaged optics places the optical components in the same package as the switch chip to cut the power and distance electrical signals must travel.

See DWDM in the live AI chain.

THE ENTITY maps every constraint onto one live model — which part is tight now, who owns it, and who gets squeezed when it moves. Plain-English reads you can check.

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THE ENTITY is an educational read on the AI supply chain — research, not investment advice. It explains how the chain works and who sits where, never price targets or buy/sell calls.