USFP vs XPO
Two front-panel formats, two camps. XPO goes big and liquid-cooled; USFP goes fast and stays OSFP-sized.
Seven months before USFP, Arista launched the XPO multi-source agreement for a very different pluggable: a large, liquid-cooled module with 64 channels and 12.8T of capacity (Arista). Both claim four times the front-panel density of 1.6T OSFP. They get there in opposite ways.
Side by side
| USFP | XPO | |
|---|---|---|
| Led by | Cisco and NVIDIA | Arista (XPO MSA) |
| Announced | Oct 12, 2026 | Mar 12, 2026 |
| Lanes | 16, then 32 | 64 channels |
| Lane rate | 400G | 200G, 400G on the roadmap |
| Per module | 6.4T, then 12.8T | 12.8T, then 25.6T |
| Size | About OSFP | About 2.7 times as wide as OSFP |
| Cooling | Up to 100 W, no cooling circuit in the module | Cold plate in the module, cools up to 400 W |
| Density | 4x 200G-lane pluggables | 204.8T per OCP rack unit (4x 1.6T OSFP) |
| Spec | Planned | MSA formed; site at xpomsa.com |
Sources: Cisco, Arista, eeFocus (XPO width) and NAND Research (XPO roadmap).
Lane rate against lane count
XPO reaches 12.8T today by stacking 64 lanes of 200G, a rate switch chips already run. USFP needs 400G lanes that no announced switch chip has yet. So XPO can be used with this generation's silicon, while USFP is aimed at the next one. On XPO's roadmap, 400G lanes take it to 25.6T per module, double USFP's 32-lane ceiling.
Liquid against air
XPO builds a cold plate into every module and is aimed at liquid-cooled racks. USFP is meant to work in air-cooled and liquid-cooled systems, with 100 W per module and no cooling circuit inside. Counterpoint Research sees that as the main split: XPO for single-site GPU clusters where liquid cooling to the transceiver is already a given, USFP for operators who want density without plumbing to every port (Counterpoint Research).
The camps
Arista isn't part of USFP, and Cisco and NVIDIA aren't part of XPO. NAND Research reads that as two rival 400G pluggable ecosystems, with the winner likely decided by which form factor the next 400G switch chips ship with (NAND Research). Suppliers can back more than one: Coherent, for one, is behind both XPO and Open CPX.
Which matters to you
If you run Arista switches, or you're building liquid-cooled racks now, XPO is the one to read about first. If your network is NVIDIA Spectrum-X or Cisco Silicon One, USFP is the format those vendors plan for 400G lanes. Most large buyers will see both before the market settles.
USFP vs OSFP
Same footprint, four times the bandwidth, a new connector. Why your OSFP cages won't take it.
USFP vs co-packaged optics
Keep swappable modules, or put the optics in the switch package for the lowest power.
Every form factor
OSFP to co-packaged optics in one table: lanes, capacity, heat and who backs each.
Sources
- Arista Announces XPO High Density Liquid Cooled Pluggable Optics, Arista Networks, March 12, 2026.
- NVIDIA and Cisco Introduce New Pluggable Optics Form Factor to Scale AI Factories, Cisco Newsroom, October 12, 2026.
- OCP Summit: NVIDIA & Cisco Launch USFP, Comparison With NPO and XPO Roadmaps, eeFocus, October 14, 2026.
- Cisco and NVIDIA: Optical Ultra-Dense Small Form Factor Pluggable (USFP) Specification, NAND Research, October 13, 2026.
- Cisco and NVIDIA Launch Ultra-Dense Small Form Factor Pluggable (USFP), Counterpoint Research, October 16, 2026.