Broadcom Empowers Meta’s Data Center Network Fabric With World’s Highest Bandwidth Ethernet Switch Chip

Rhea-AI Summary

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) has announced the deployment of its Tomahawk4 series switch in Meta's Minipack2 platform, marking a significant advancement in data center networking. This 25.6 Tbps Ethernet switch is now shipping in high volume, showcasing the industry's highest bandwidth capability. The Tomahawk4 series offers low power consumption per bit, thus reducing operational costs. With successful integration into various platforms, it remains a dominant force in high-density network solutions.

Positive

• Deployment of Tomahawk4 in Meta's Minipack2 boosts technological capabilities.
• Tomahawk4 is the only 25.6 Tbps solution in production, leading to increased market demand.
• Significant operational cost savings due to low power consumption per bit.

Negative

• None.

Meta Now Deploying its Minipack2 Platform With Revolutionary 25.6 Tbps Tomahawk4

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) today announced that Meta is now deploying the world’s highest bandwidth Ethernet switch chip, the Broadcom StrataXGS^® Tomahawk^® 4 switch series, in its data center network fabric. A leading-edge 25.6 Tbps Ethernet switch, the Tomahawk4 is now shipping in high volume in Meta’s Minipack2 platform— an industry first.  

“Broadcom is pleased to support Meta and its ecosystem partners on the transition to a leading-edge 25.6Tbps networking fabric,” said Ram Velaga, senior vice president and general manager, Core Switching Group, Broadcom. “Our multi-year collaborative effort has resulted in the successful integration of multiple generations of the marketplace’s highest bandwidth Tomahawk switch chip into Meta’s industry- leading Wedge400 and Minipack2 networking platforms.”

The Tomahawk family has consistently led the market in switching bandwidth. This has continued with the Tomahawk4 family shipping in volume for over one year, remaining the only 25.6Tbps solution in production today. Members of the Tomahawk4 family, currently in production, include the Tomahawk4-50G, Tomahawk4-100G and Tomahawk4-12.8T.

The Tomahawk4 switch series provides the world’s lowest power per bit of throughput, enabling significant savings in operational expense and allowing for ultra-high density network equipment. The variety of SerDes speeds and bandwidth points provided by the Tomahawk4 devices, enable direct connection to high-volume 200Gbps, 400Gbps, and 800Gbps optics.

The Broadcom Tomahawk3, the Tomahawk4’s predecessor, has been shipping in production since 2018. It has been deployed in Meta’s previous and current generation platforms. The Tomahawk4 and Tomahawk3 are the foundation of numerous hyperscale data center fabrics worldwide with a broad ecosystem of ODMs, OEMs, and Network Operating System partners.  

In addition to Tomahawk4, Minipack2 uses Broadcom’s 7nm Barchetta2, a 16×56-Gb/s full-duplex PHY, featuring demonstrated interoperability with Broadcom merchant switches and ASICs. This 400G/200G/100G retimer is designed with industry-leading 56-Gbps PAM4 Serdes architecture that supports greater than 30dB of insertion loss on both host and line interfaces. 

Today, Ram Velaga, senior vice president and general manager, Broadcom, will join Omar Baldanado, director of Engineering, Meta, on stage at the 2021 Open Compute Project Global Summit in San Jose, California, to discuss the companies’ multi-collaborative efforts. The session titled, “Networking and New Data Center Challenges- Presented by Meta,” will take place at 9:17a.m., SJCC- Concourse Level- Grand Ballroom 220.

Availability
Tomahawk 4, Tomahawk 3, and Barchetta2 are currently in high volume production. For more information on the Tomahawk switch series, Barchetta2, and all Broadcom products and solutions please click here.

About Broadcom
Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a global technology leader that designs, develops and supplies a broad range of semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions. Broadcom’s category-leading product portfolio serves critical markets including data center, networking, enterprise software, broadband, wireless, storage and industrial. Our solutions include data center networking and storage, enterprise, mainframe and cyber security software focused on automation, monitoring and security, smartphone components, telecoms and factory automation. For more information, go to https://www.broadcom.com.

Broadcom, the pulse logo, Tomahawk are among the trademarks of Broadcom. The term “Broadcom” refers to Broadcom Inc., and/or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Press Contact:
Jon Piazza
Corporate Communications
press.relations@broadcom.com
Telephone: +1 408 433 7924

FAQ

What is Broadcom's latest announcement about the Tomahawk4?

Broadcom announced that the Tomahawk4 switch is being deployed in Meta's Minipack2 platform, offering 25.6 Tbps bandwidth.

How does the Tomahawk4 switch impact operational costs?

The Tomahawk4 provides the lowest power per bit of throughput, leading to significant operational expense savings.

What are the key features of the Tomahawk4 switch series?

The Tomahawk4 series includes high-density network equipment with the ability to connect to 200Gbps, 400Gbps, and 800Gbps optics.

When did Broadcom start shipping the Tomahawk4 switches?

The Tomahawk4 has been shipping in high volume for over one year.