Credo Introduces Industry’s First 224G Multiprotocol AI Scale-Up Retimer Supporting UALink, ESUN and Ethernet

Key Terms

retimer technical

A retimer is a small electronic component that cleans up, re-times and boosts very fast digital signals traveling between chips or over cables so data arrives accurately over longer distances. Think of it as a relay that listens to a garbled message, restores its timing and clarity, and passes it on; for investors, retimers matter because they enable higher-performance products, support newer industry standards, and can drive demand, pricing power and supply-chain value for companies that design or sell them.

serdes technical

SerDes (short for serializer/deserializer) is an electronic function that converts parallel streams of data into a single fast serial stream and then converts it back, like packing many lanes of traffic into one high-speed highway and unpacking them at the other end. Investors care because SerDes chips and blocks determine how quickly and efficiently devices, data centers and networks can move information; improvements or bottlenecks affect product performance, production costs, and demand across the semiconductor and communications supply chain.

ffe technical

Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment (often abbreviated FFE) are the physical items a company uses to run its operations that are not part of the building itself—things like desks, shelving, computers, and machinery. For investors, FFE matters because it represents capital tied up in the business, affects cash flow and depreciation schedules, and signals how much spending is needed to maintain or grow operations; think of it as the tools a shop needs to stay open and productive.

telemetry technical

Telemetry is the automatic collection and transmission of measurements from remote devices, systems, or patients to a central system for monitoring and analysis—like a car sending engine, speed and location data back to a dashboard. For investors it matters because telemetry provides real-time evidence of product performance, safety and user behavior, helping assess revenue potential, operational risk, regulatory compliance and whether a product is meeting market demand.

gearbox technical

A gearbox is a mechanical unit that uses sets of gears inside a housing to change the speed, force or direction delivered from a motor to the part that does the work; think of it like a transmission that lets a machine trade speed for power. Investors care because gearbox design, reliability and cost affect a product’s performance, warranty and maintenance bills, manufacturing margins and after‑sales revenue—similar to how a car’s transmission influences driving feel and long‑term repair costs.

backplane technical

A backplane is a central hardware board or panel that links multiple circuit boards, modules or components inside electronic equipment so they can communicate and share power—think of it like a building’s wiring closet or a multi-outlet power strip for circuit boards. Investors care because a well-designed backplane improves product reliability, ease of upgrades and manufacturing efficiency, affecting costs, repairability and the company’s ability to scale or win contracts.

Enables Flexible Backplane Architecture for AI Scale-Up Networking Applications

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd (Credo) (NASDAQ: CRDO), an innovator in providing connectivity at scale through fast, reliable, and energy-efficient system solutions, today announced its Blue Heron 224G AI scale-up retimer, optimized to support the growing need for extended cable and PCB backplane links using UALink, ESUN, and Ethernet protocols.

Credo's Blue Heron 224G AI scale-up retimer is optimized to support the growing need for extended cable and PCB backplane links using UALink, ESUN and Ethernet protocols.

Key points:

• Credo’s Blue Heron 224G AI scale-up retimer supports multiple protocols that include UALink, ESUN, and Ethernet.
• Blue Heron allows full recovery of a 40+dB 224G link to enable rack-scale cable backplanes and flexible placement of GPUs and switch ICs to support AI scale-up applications.
• Blue Heron is built in an advanced 3nm process using Credo’s high-performance 224G SerDes.

224G scale-up cable backplanes have a challenging electrical budget which has limited them to a half rack of span, forcing GPU and switch ICs to be physically located at the back of trays. Blue Heron is a multiprotocol retimer which enables full recovery of a 40+dB 224G link. With Blue Heron, system integrators can architect rack-scale cable backplanes as well as flexible tray placement of GPUs and switch ICs to support AI scale-up applications.

Blue Heron is built in an advanced 3nm process using Credo’s high-performance 224G SerDes. This SerDes incorporates an advanced 30-Tap FFE architecture and additional 16-Taps for reflection cancellation, enabling extended reach up to 40+dB for long-reach cable and PCB backplane applications.

“The fast-growing scale-up market consists of a diversity of scale-up protocols such as UALink, ESUN and Ethernet which converge at layer 1 on the 224G 802.3 standard,” said Sandeep Shah, AVP of Product for Credo’s Retimer Products. “Credo’s leading Blue Heron 224G retimer can support all of these standards enabling a simple, multi-protocol solution for customers.”

“UALink is experiencing rapid growth, demanding robust interconnect solutions critical for emerging AI workloads,” said Kurtis Bowman, UALink Board Chair and AMD Director of System Architecture. “By supporting UALink, Credo's new retimer is a crucial building block for next-generation AI and compute infrastructure. This forward-looking solution not only addresses current bandwidth needs but also paves the way for future innovation and scalability within the UALink ecosystem.”¹

“As AI systems evolve toward increasingly heterogeneous architectures, the ability to interconnect accelerators at massive scale through a unified network fabric becomes fundamental,” said Aravind Srikumar, SVP of Product & Marketing at Upscale AI. “By supporting Ethernet, Ultra Accelerator Link (UAL), and Ethernet for Scale-Up Networking (ESUN) in a single device, Credo’s Blue Heron 224G retimer is a critical building block for Upscale AI’s SkyHammer-enabled solutions, enabling massive, heterogeneous scale-up AI clusters in our shared objective to further advance open standards and customer choice across the AI network.”

“We project that the scale-up networking market will reach over $40B by 2030, driven by rack-scale architectures and built on multiple fabrics, not just one,” said Alan Weckel, Founder and Analyst, 650 Group. “Credo’s Blue Heron retimer provides the high-speed, long-reach, and low-latency connectivity needed for rack-scale AI applications while also supporting multiple protocols for flexibility and quick deployment.”

Key Features of Credo’s Blue Heron AI Scale-Up Retimer

• 224G LR Retimer / Gearbox supporting UALink, ESUN, Ethernet
• Mission mode FEC monitoring to actively monitor link health
• Advanced telemetry features
• Seamless integration with Credo PILOT debug GUI

To learn more about the Credo products in this release, visit the product page linked here.

Product Availability

Blue Heron is sampling now with production quantities available in CQ3 2026.

About Credo

Credo’s mission is to transform connectivity at scale through fast, reliable, and energy-efficient system solutions. Our high-speed copper and optical interconnect products deliver industry-leading power and performance at up to 1.6T to meet the ever-expanding data infrastructure demands of AI.

Our product portfolio includes ZeroFlap (ZF) Active Electrical Cables (AECs) and ZF optical transceivers, OmniConnect memory solutions, and a suite of retimers and DSPs for optical and copper Ethernet and PCIe, all leveraging the PILOT diagnostic and analytics software platform. Credo innovations enable our customers to connect the systems that connect the world.

For more information, please visit https://www.credosemi.com. Follow Credo on LinkedIn.

Credo and the Credo logo are registered trademarks of Credo Technology Group Limited in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.

¹ Credo has been a contributing member of the UALink Consortium since its inception in late 2024.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260129771160/en/

Media Contact:

Kristin Hehir

kristin.hehir@credosemi.com

Investor Contact:

Dan O’Neil

dan.oneil@credosemi.com

Source: Credo