Systems and methods may provide for an optical module including an optical demultiplexer to receive a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) signal from a single receive optical fiber and separate the WDM signal into a plurality of optical signals. Additionally, the optical module may include a receiver conversion unit to convert the plurality of optical signals into a corresponding plurality of electrical signals. In addition, the optical module may include a buffer chip having a single clock and data recovery (CDR) module to recover a clock from a designated signal in the plurality of electrical signals and distribute the recovered clock to a plurality of data lanes corresponding to the plurality of electrical signals.