Broadcom Extends AI Workload Scale with Industry-First PCI Express Gen5/Gen6 Retimers
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Insights
Broadcom Inc.'s announcement regarding its first-to-market 5nm PCIe Gen 5.0/CXL2.0 and PCIe Gen 6.0/CXL3.1 retimers is a significant development in the semiconductor and data center technology sectors. These advanced retimers are designed to meet the escalating demands for high-speed data transfer and energy efficiency in AI infrastructure, which is a rapidly growing market segment. The new retimers' capabilities, such as extended reach and lower power dissipation, are particularly relevant for cloud and enterprise data center providers. These features directly address the need for higher bandwidth and lower latency, which are critical for supporting advanced AI and high-performance computing applications.
Given the increasing reliance on AI and data-centric operations, Broadcom's market position as a leading provider of connectivity solutions is likely to be further solidified with this release. The strategic importance of this announcement is underscored by the partnerships and endorsements from key industry players like AMD, Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others. Their support indicates a strong market readiness and potential customer base for these new products. This development could potentially lead to increased market share and revenue growth for Broadcom, especially if the new retimers deliver on their promised efficiency and performance improvements.
The financial implications of Broadcom's introduction of the industry's first 5nm PCIe Gen 5.0/CXL2.0 and PCIe Gen 6.0/CXL3.1 retimers could be substantial. As the demand for AI and high-performance computing continues to grow, investments in technologies that enable these applications become increasingly valuable. Broadcom's early entry into the market with advanced retimer technology could provide it with a competitive advantage, potentially leading to an increase in its market share in the connectivity solutions space.
The announcement also suggests a strong research and development focus, which is crucial for maintaining technological leadership. The commitment to future PCIe Gen7 based solutions reflects a long-term strategic vision that may appeal to investors looking for sustainable growth. The financial performance of Broadcom could see a positive impact from the sales of these new products, assuming successful adoption and integration into AI server fabrics by data center operators. However, investors should monitor the company's capital expenditures and the return on investment from these R&D activities, as well as the market's reception of the new retimers.
The technical advancements represented by Broadcom's new PCIe retimers are noteworthy. The transition to 5nm technology is a leap forward in semiconductor manufacturing, promising significant improvements in performance and energy efficiency. The integration of PCIe Gen 5.0 and Gen 6.0 with CXL (Compute Express Link) protocols is particularly important, as it enables a more coherent and versatile interconnect fabric that can better handle heterogeneous computing environments found in AI and high-performance data centers.
The emphasis on lower power consumption and enhanced signal integrity is a response to the practical challenges faced in scaling AI infrastructure. By addressing these challenges, Broadcom is positioning its products as not just technologically advanced but also as solutions that can lead to cost savings and more sustainable operations for data center providers. The inclusion of advanced diagnostics and integrated software suites further indicates a focus on ease of deployment and management, which are critical factors for the rapid adoption of new technologies in complex environments.
Industry’s first end-to-end PCIe connectivity portfolio offers lowest power solutions and unparalleled efficiency to interconnect AI infrastructure
PALO ALTO, Calif., March 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO), the worldwide leader in PCIe, SerDes, and connectivity technology, today announced the availability of the world’s first 5nm PCIe Gen 5.0/CXL2.0 and PCIe Gen 6.0/CXL3.1 retimers. Broadcom retimers, in combination with its PEX series switches, constitute the industry’s first end-to-end PCIe portfolio and provide benefits including extended reach, lower power dissipation, simplified interop, and end-to-end management.
As the demands on AI servers continue to increase, cloud and enterprise data center providers require higher bandwidth, lower latency, lower power, and an open standard-based fabric to interconnect compute, accelerators, networking and storage devices. Broadcom’s investment and deployment scale, along with deep SerDes, protocol and software expertise, are the foundation for industry-leading PCIe switches and retimers.
“PCIe is one of the most critical and widely-adopted protocols for interconnecting CPUs, AI accelerators, NICs and storage devices. Broadcom’s market-leading PCIe portfolio allows our customers to architect efficient data center solutions with the lowest power and maximum reach,” said Vijay Janapaty, vice president and general manager of the Physical Layer Products Division at Broadcom. “Our PCIe Gen5/Gen6 retimers with CXL support, together with our PEX switches, enable an open, flexible and industry standard based ecosystem for next-generation AI server fabric.”
“Generative AI and high-performance computing applications have driven a surge in server deployments across the globe,” said Patrick Moorhead, CEO & chief analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy. “An ecosystem of open, standards based PCIe host solutions that interconnect the compute engines inside a server is critical for the AI data centers to scale. Broadcom's industry-leading PCIe Gen 5/Gen 6 retimers - a testament to their connectivity experience and their rich technology heritage - will enable rapid productization for their customers with a unique end-to-end play.”
Broadcom’s market leading PCIe Gen 5.0 switches are broadly deployed for interconnecting AI infrastructure today and ably complement the Gen 5.0 retimers. In addition, Broadcom’s PCIe Gen 6.0/CXL3.1 switches will sample later this year to deliver an end-to-end PCIe 6.0 portfolio. Broadcom is also committed to accelerate the open AI ecosystem further with PCIe Gen7 based solutions in the near future.
Broadcom’s wide spanning PCIe portfolio with industry-first Gen5/Gen6 end-to-end solutions include the following features and benefits:
- Broadcom In-house SerDes:
40% greater SerDes reach and highest lane count switches in the industry enable customers to build systems with larger fanout; Built-in hardware interoperability ensures reliable signal integrity. - Broadcom Architecture:
50% lower power and form factor flexibility with midplane/backplane/cables enable customers to create advanced AI sub-systems. - Broadcom Advanced Diagnostics: LINKCAT™ and embedded logic analyzers drastically reduce the system design and validation cycle.
- Broadcom Software: Integrated software suite substantially eases NPI cycle and accelerates time to market.
Broadcom is currently sampling its Gen5 and Gen6 PCIe/CXL retimer devices to its early access customers and partners. Please contact your local Broadcom sales representative for samples and pricing.
Further information on the retimer devices can be found online at:
https://www.broadcom.com/products/pcie-switches-retimers/expressfabric/gen6/bcm85667
https://www.broadcom.com/products/pcie-switches-retimers/expressfabric/gen6/bcm85668
https://www.broadcom.com/products/pcie-switches-retimers/expressfabric/gen5/bcm85657
https://www.broadcom.com/products/pcie-switches-retimers/expressfabric/gen5/bcm85658
Partner Quotes
“AMD and Broadcom share a commitment to delivering open, standards-based networking and connectivity solutions that deliver highly-performant options for the enterprise,” said Raghu Nambiar, Corporate Vice President, Data Center Ecosystems and Solutions, AMD. “As AI becomes increasingly pervasive, data center operators face an unprecedented demand for performance and energy efficiency. Our joint work with Broadcom pushes the boundaries of PCIe technologies to deliver next-gen, highly-performant interconnect solutions for computationally intensive AI and business critical applications.”
“With increasing demands for high-performing interconnect technology, the latest 5nm PCIe retimers and switches from Broadcom allow us to provide our customers with an end-to-end solution with our Dell PowerEdge AI servers,” said Travis Vigil, Senior Vice President, Product Management, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Dell Technologies. “We value Broadcom’s deep commitment to the PCIe ecosystem support to help accelerate future generations of data centers.”
“As a leader and expert in delivering the world’s fastest supercomputers that power complex, compute-intensive AI and simulation workloads, Hewlett Packard Enterprise values the essential role high-speed interfaces play in large scale AI systems architecture which is core to advancing the goals of our customers,” said Trish Damkroger, Senior Vice President and General Manager, HPC & AI Infrastructure Solutions, Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “PCIe plays a critical role in enabling purpose-built interconnect to support large-scale systems and we are pleased to see Broadcom invest in 5nm technology to enable further improvements to future AI and compute-intensive scaling needs.”
“Quanta looks to market-leading innovators like Broadcom to help us meet the data center workload challenges for our customers demand,” said Mike Yang, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Quanta Computer Inc. “The Broadcom end-to-end portfolio of PCIe Gen 5.0 and 6.0 solutions not only allow the AI ecosystem to scale but also deliver the lowest power and extended reach to be available in the market.”
“Broadcom’s new PCIe solutions provide the lowest power and data center efficiency that our Green Computing initiative requires,” said Charles Liang, President and CEO, Supermicro. “Broadcom new retimer and switch solutions allow us to capture the demand our customers require for building complete end-to-end solutions for AI and high performance applications.”
“Wiwynn is pleased to support Broadcom’s continued commitment to extending its PCIe portfolio to allow data centers and cloud service providers to deliver a complete, interoperable solution for servers,” said Steven Lu, Executive Vice President, Wiwynn. “The Broadcom retimer IC and PCIe switch are essential components to solve today’s high performance computing challenges in AI and server clustering solutions.”
About Broadcom
Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a global technology leader that designs, develops, and supplies a broad range of semiconductor, enterprise software and security solutions. Broadcom's category-leading product portfolio serves critical markets including cloud, data center, networking, broadband, wireless, storage, industrial, and enterprise software. Our solutions include service provider and enterprise networking and storage, mobile device and broadband connectivity, mainframe, cybersecurity, and private and hybrid cloud infrastructure. Broadcom is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. For more information, go to www.broadcom.com.
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