IOI: In-network Optical Inference

In-network Optical Inference (IOI) provides low-latency machine learning inference by leveraging programmable switches and optical matrix multiplication. IOI uses a transceiver module, called a Neuro Transceiver, with an optical processor to perform linear operations, such as matrix multiplication, in the optical domain. IOI's transceiver modules can be plugged into programmable packet switches, which are programmed to perform non-linear activations in the electronic domain and to respond to inference queries. Processing inference queries at the programmable packet switches inside the network, without sending them to cloud or edge inference servers, significantly reduces end-to-end inference latency experienced by users.