Broadcom Rolls Out Silicon for 100GbE Networks

The 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) standard has been ratified and the race is on to deliver real-world product. Semiconductor vendor Broadcom is off and running with a new line of Ethernet switching silicon, which can scale from 100 Gigabits per second (Gbps) to 100 Terabits per second (Tbps), according to this report from Enterprise Networking Planet.

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“Broadcom (NASDAQ:BRCM) announced the new BCM88600 series of Ethernet switching silicon, which can scale from 100 Gigabits per second (Gbps) to 100 Terabits per second (Tbps). Broadcom's announcement comes at a time when the market for 100 GbE based solutions is heating up. Networking vendors including Cisco, Juniper, Alcatel-Lucent and Brocade have all announced plans to put 100 GbE equipment in customer hands.

“Eyal Dagan, senior director and general manager at Broadcom's Yakum Design Center told InternetNews.com that his company spent approximately two years with a team of approximately 100 engineers developing the new solution. Broadcom's engineers had to overcome a number of challenges developing the BCM88600 series.

"‘The main challenge is that this device integrates a set of complex functions (e.g. micro-coded Packet Processor, Traffic Manager) and has to work in the context of large systems scaling to 100 Tbps,’ Dagan said. ‘This adds to the fact that this is the first industry device that can process a single stream of 100 GbE, which makes the design of each such function a challenge on its own.’

“It has been a busy year for Broadcom overall in pushing the boundaries of Ethernet switching speeds. Dagan noted that earlier this year, Broadcom introduced the BCM5685 which has a total capacity of 640 Gbps. That said, the BCM5685 only had a maximum port rate of 40 GbE, so it could support up to 16 ports of 40 GbE or 64 ports of 10 GbE.

“Dagan explained that the BCM88600 series silicon can support a port rate of 100 GbE.”

For more, read "Broadcom Rolls New Silicon for 100 Terabits per Second Switching" at Enterprise Networking Planet.

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