Product category:
Communications ICs (Wired)
News Release from: Broadcom Corp | Subject: StrataXGS III BCM56700 Series
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 03 May 2006
Switch fabric chips boost bandwidth
New switch fabric chips are the industry's first to deliver up to 384Gbit/s of nonblocking switching capacity on a single chip.
Broadcom Corporation has developed a new series of switch fabric chips for its industry-leading line of StrataXGS III Ethernet switching products The new chips are the industry's first to deliver up to 384Gbit/s of nonblocking switching capacity on a single chip
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 19 Oct 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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Furthermore, in multichip configurations, the fabric can scale to more than 3Tbit/s, which is more than double the capacity available from previous generation fabrics.
The new switch fabric chips are designed for use in Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) stackable and chassis-based enterprise networking systems, and improve the performance in stackable systems by enabling a level of bandwidth that is typically only found in chassis-based equipment.
Enterprise networking equipment manufacturers are striving to develop GbE and 10GbE systems with increased port counts and functionality to handle the growth of business applications and converged network traffic (ie voice, video, data and storage) that is found in today's business environments.
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The network must also provide guaranteed delivery of high-priority time-sensitive traffic such as voice and video.
To support these new system demands, the switch fabric that interconnects the stackable and chassis-based systems must have increased capacity and support a high level of quality of service (QoS).
In chassis-based systems, the additional capacity is typically achieved by upgrading the central system switch fabric card, and in stackable configurations, additional stacking links must be added.
Announced today is Broadcom's new StrataXGS III BCM56700 Series, which features up to 16 ports of HiGig stacking, with each port capable of running beyond 12Gbit/s.
The new StrataXGS III 700 Series is unparalleled in its stacking capability, and in a typical configuration, offers up to 144Gbit/s full duplex bandwidth or 288Gbit/s of stacking capability.
As a result, the new switch fabric chips break the performance barrier of stackable systems, enabling them to reach a higher level of bandwidth that is typically associated with chassis-based systems.
The BCM56700 Series features Service Aware Flow Control (SAFC) technology, which allows guaranteed delivery of high priority, time-sensitive traffic in a converged Ethernet network, even during periods of heavy network congestion.
The BCM56700 also features dynamic buffer management, which intelligently manages bursts in network traffic, resulting in better network performance.
"Broadcom's new switch fabric addresses the need for increased performance of next-generation enterprise systems, while improving functionality, security and quality of service", said Eric Hayes, Director of Marketing for Broadcom's Enterprise Switching Line of Business.
"As a new addition to the StrataXGS family, the BCM56700 enables Broadcom to continue to offer the industry's most comprehensive Ethernet switching portfolio".
"Broadcom reinforces its leadership in Ethernet semiconductor technology by delivering new products with advanced features and higher performance to the market", said Michael See, CTO for Alcatel's network infrastructure development.
"The innovative networking software from Alcatel combined with state-of-the-art switching silicon from Broadcom adds up to world-class enterprise switching platforms for converged voice, video, and data networks".
The StrataXGS III BCM56700 Series is sampling today and features a mature software API, which is currently supported by multiple third-party software vendors.
Volume production of the new BCM56700 Series is expected in July 2006.
Product pricing is available on request.
StrataXGS III 700 Series reference designs are also available to help speed time to market and include software, schematics, layout files and related documentation.
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