Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS) today announced two new 1.6T Ethernet test platforms, Switch and Edge Router Tester (SERT) 1600GE and AresONE Plus 1600GE, designed to help customers validate next-generation AI data center and hyperscale networking infrastructure. AresONE Plus 1600GE sets a new benchmark by delivering eight 1.6T Ethernet ports in a single 2U appliance while providing stateful, realistic AI workload generation with mix-of-experts emulation.
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Keysight’s SERT 1600GE enables 1.6T Ethernet validation for data center switches and edge routers.
SERT 1600GE targets data center switch fabric and edge router validation, while AresONE Plus 1600GE adds AI workload emulation and high-density switch fabric testing. The combined platforms provide a consistent test foundation for device qualification, routing, and AI fabric validation. They also enable performance, interoperability, and control-plane evaluation as networks scale.
Key capabilities include:
- AresONE Plus 1600GE for testing high-density switching: Packs eight OSFP1600 ports into a single 2U chassis, delivering 12.8T of line-rate traffic at 64 bytes. It supports 1600GE PAM4 signaling over 224G SerDes with backward compatibility to 112G, plus flexible port breakout of 1x1600GE, 2x800GE, 4x400GE, or 8x200GE.
- SERT 1600GE for switch and edge router validation: Available in eight-port 2U configuration for switch fabric scale testing. In common with the AresONE Plus 1600GE platform, it is capable of being time synchronized using Precision Time Protocol (PTP), for larger topologies, offering flexibility to scale test environments as network configurations grow.
- Protocol and control-plane validation: Both platforms support Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), Equal-Cost Multipath (ECMP), Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN), and SONiC validation across routing, bridging, and access use cases. AresONE Plus 1600GE also provides core routing scale for control-plane testing.
- AI workload emulation: AresONE Plus 1600GE integrates with Keysight AI Data Center Builder software for mix-of-experts emulation, RoCEv2, Priority Flow Control (PFC), Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN), and Ultra Ethernet Consortium (UEC) support. These capabilities let customers exercise both network protocols and AI traffic behavior in the same validation environment to identify performance and congestion issues before deployment.
- Optics and test flexibility: Both platforms support DAC, ACC, AEC, AOC, and coherent optics in both IHS and RHS form factors. AresONE Plus 1600GE can dynamically switch between an eight-port mode for data center switch qualification and a four-port mode for AI benchmarking on the same chassis, helping teams use one appliance across multiple test scenarios and gain more value from their test infrastructure.
NVIDIA Spectrum-6 Ethernet Switch is setting the foundation for next-generation AI Ethernet fabrics with unprecedented bandwidth, scale, and AI-optimized networking. Through collaboration with NVIDIA, Keysight AresONE Plus 1600GE provides the high-performance validation platform needed to stress these capabilities with 1.6T/800GE traffic throughput, 224G SerDes, routing-scale validation, and realistic AI workload emulation, enabling rigorous performance and congestion testing before deployment.
Gilad Shainer, Senior Vice President of Networking, NVIDIA, said: “AI factories require an Ethernet fabric designed for accelerated computing, and NVIDIA Spectrum-X provides the performance, predictability and control needed to keep large-scale AI workloads running efficiently. Keysight’s validation capabilities help engineering teams emulate realistic AI traffic and test Spectrum-X-based fabrics before deployment, reducing time to market.”
Ram Periakaruppan, Vice President and General Manager, Network Test & Security Solutions, Keysight, said: “The AI era breaks the rules for hyperscale infrastructure. We have moved beyond fault-tolerant commodity scaling to highly synchronized, specialized AI clusters where every packet, link, node, and nanosecond counts. As engineering teams and operators race to upgrade AI infrastructure to 1.6T Ethernet, they need to emulate the broader AI system throughout the development process—from early design and device qualification to system-level validation and AI rack deployment. These new platforms give our customers the flexibility to test at scale while using the same test foundation across the entire design-to-deployment continuum.”
Keysight is showcasing the new platforms at Open Compute Project (OCP) Global Summit booth #C83 in San Jose Convention Center, October 12-15.
Resources
- Product Page: SERT 1600GE
- Data Sheet: SERT 1600GE
- Product Page: AresONE Plus 1600GE
- Data Sheet: AresONE Plus 1600GE
- Product Page: Keysight AI Data Center Builder
About Keysight Technologies
Keysight (NYSE: KEYS) serves technology innovators as a mission-critical design enablement partner for the world’s most complex engineering challenges. By connecting market-leading design, emulation, and test solutions across the full life cycle, Keysight helps engineering teams accelerate innovation, reduce risk, and bring new technologies to market faster. Customers across AI infrastructure, communications, industrial automation, aerospace and defense, automotive, semiconductor, and general electronics rely on Keysight to bridge virtual design and physical reality, enabling confident decisions earlier. Learn more at www.keysight.com.
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