Broadcom unveils first 100Gbit/s single-chip switch silicon

Broadcom has announced Ethernet switch silicon capable of scaling from 100Gbit/s to 100Tbit/s of traffic, which the firm predicts will soon be needed in datacentres.

The BCM88600 series, sampling now to Broadcom's network vendor partners, is claimed as the industry's first single-chip switching silicon for Ethernet (100GbE) networks, and has integrated Layer 2 to Layer 4 traffic management capabilities.

A variety of network switch configurations are possible with the new chips, right up to modular chassis-based switches interconnected via a two-stage fabric element organisation capable of delivering more than 10,000 wire-speed ports, the company said.

According to Broadcom, increasing video and data traffic volumes are driving the need for greater bandwidth and scalability in datacentres.

Large datacentres with thousands of servers will soon require 100Gbit/s in the network core and for interconnections to other datacentres.

"With the BCM88600 series, Broadcom has again enabled Ethernet to outpace other technologies in terms of bandwidth and performance, providing the scalability and capacity required to develop ultra high-performance networks," said Broadcom Network Switching Business vice president Martin Lund.