OFC 2026: Marvell Launches Next-generation CXL Switch, Enabling Memory Pooling to Break Through the AI “Memory Wall”

Marvell Technology, Inc, an active provider of data infrastructure semiconductor solutions, announced Marvell Structera S 30260 – a new 260-lane CXL switch device that enables rack-level memory pooling. Working in concert with Marvell Structera A near-memory accelerators, Structera X memory-expansion controllers and Alaska P PCIe/CXL retimers, the new switch allows data center operators to further increase memory bandwidth and capacity by providing access to disaggregated memory resources outside the server.CXL switching has long supported traditional CPU computing architectures and has also now become essential for accelerated AI data center infrastructure. As AI clusters expand dramatically in scale and complexity, memory capacity has hit a wall, becoming a primary constraint on the performance and efficiency of these systems. Exploding large language model (LLM) sizes, expanding context windows and growing key-value cache requirements are driving unprecedented memory demands. Traditional approaches are becoming increasingly inefficient and costly, and they cannot support the massive capacity required by these larger and more complex AI workloads.

Leveraging industry-leading switch solutions through the recent acquisition of XConn Technologies, the Structera S CXL switch device enables true memory pooling across the rack, allowing hyperscalers and data center operators to dynamically expand and allocate memory resources across CPUs, GPUs, XPUs and other accelerators without replacing existing platforms or relying solely on HBM stacking. It enables a large scalable, composable resource that can deliver higher memory utilization, improved data flow efficiency and AI application performance, greater infrastructure design flexibility and scalability, and reduced overall total cost of ownership.

“Breaking through the AI memory wall requires a fundamental architectural change,” said Rishi Chugh, VP and GM, data center switch business unit, Marvell. “The Structera S CXL switch is the first true CXL switching solution purpose-built for AI. By enabling composable memory across the fabric, we are fundamentally reshaping and improving memory pooling efficiency as AI infrastructure scales.”

“KV‑cache is driving an exploding demand for memory capacity to support LLM inference,” said Gerry Fan, SVP, engineering, scale-up switching, Marvell. “The CXL switch offers an ideal solution by providing a near‑local, shared memory pool with sub‑microsecond access, which eliminates multi-hop data movement and unlocks higher throughput, longer context and improved GPU utilization.”

“Limited availability of DRAM in the market and runaway pricing, compounded with broader macroeconomic and supply chain issues, are upending the plans of data center operators as they rush to scale infrastructure to support rapidly expanding AI workflows,” said James Sanders, senior analyst, TechInsights. “Industry adoption of CXL 3.0-compliant technologies, including the Structera S CXL switch, can help alleviate these issues, giving operators the flexibility to scale infrastructure as needed to meet future AI infrastructure demand.”

Industry’s First Comprehensive CXL Portfolio
With CXL 3.0 support and aggregate bandwidth up to 4TB/s, the Structera S CXL switch bolsters the existing Marvell CXL product family, which includes Marvell Structera A CXL near-memory accelerators and Structera X CXL memory-expansion controllers. It also includes Marvell Alaska P PCIe/CXL retimers and copper and optical cable solutions from Marvell ecosystem partners. The PCIe/CXL cable solutions scale connections between GPUs, CPUs, XPUs, CXL memory, SSDs, and other PCIe components, enabling low-power, high-speed and low-latency connectivity that scales within servers and clusters to power accelerated AI data center infrastructure.

The addition of XConn Technologies CXL switches to the existing Marvell CXL portfolio creates a complete end-to-end CXL fabric architecture spanning expansion, acceleration and pooling, supporting both traditional compute and next-gen scale-up AI environments.

Availability
The Marvell Structera S 30260 CXL switch is expected to begin sampling to customers in calendar Q3 2026. The Structera S 20256 CXL 2.0 switch is currently in production.