Broadcom Now Shipping World’s First 51.2 Tbps Switch in Production Volume

Rhea-AI Summary

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) has announced the production launch of its Tomahawk 5 family of Ethernet switch/router chips, which is notable for achieving this milestone just seven months after initial sampling. This chip offers an impressive 51.2 terabits/second of switching capacity, effectively doubling the performance of its competitors. Designed to enhance AI/ML infrastructure, Tomahawk 5 supports connections between 256 high-performance accelerators at 200Gbps each, significantly speeding up AI training and inference tasks. Additional features include Cognitive Routing for optimized network routing and fast link failover capabilities.

Positive

• Tomahawk 5 achieves production readiness in just seven months.
• Offers 51.2 terabits/second switching capacity, the highest in the market.
• Enhances AI/ML capabilities with support for 256 accelerators at 200Gbps each.
• Innovative Cognitive Routing features enable optimal network load balancing.

Negative

• None.

Cutting-Edge Tomahawk 5 Family of Ethernet Chips Engineered to Accelerate AI/ML Deployments

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) announced today that the Tomahawk^® 5 family of Ethernet switch/router chips is now shipping in production volume. Unprecedented for a chip of its scale, Tomahawk 5 is now available for production deployments, in only seven months from initial samples.

“Taking Tomahawk 5 to production in a mere seven months after the product was initially sampled is a testament to Broadcom’s execution quality at scale,” said Ram Velaga, senior vice president and general manager, Core Switching Group, Broadcom. “Innovation and consistent execution enables us to be the trusted technology partner for our customers’ demanding networking needs.”

Tomahawk 5 provides a major performance boost for AI/ML infrastructure. Delivering 51.2 terabits/second of switching capacity, twice that of any other switch on the market, Tomahawk 5 enables the fastest data transfer between AI/ML endpoints. The high radix of Tomahawk 5 enables single-hop connectivity between 256 high-performance AI/ML accelerators, each having 200Gbps of network bandwidth. This results in the fastest completion time for AI training and inference jobs, including for today’s increasingly complex and prevalent generative AI models.

Tomahawk 5’s advanced Cognitive Routing ensures high network utilization even under the most demanding workloads. The Cognitive Routing suite includes innovative features such as Global Load Balancing which uses distributed inter-switch communication of congestion information to choose the best global path for packets through the network. Cognitive Routing also provides high network resiliency with extremely fast link-failover by detecting a failed link and re-directing traffic in less than 500ns.

To learn more about the Broadcom Tomahawk 5 family click here. For more information on all Broadcom products please visit www.broadcom.com.

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 www.broadcom.com.

Broadcom, the pulse logo, Tomahawk, and Connecting Everything 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 the significance of Broadcom's Tomahawk 5 chips for AI/ML infrastructure?

The Tomahawk 5 chips provide a substantial performance boost for AI/ML infrastructure, enabling faster data transfers and improving the efficiency of AI training and inference tasks.

When did Broadcom launch the Tomahawk 5 family of Ethernet chips?

Broadcom announced the production launch of the Tomahawk 5 family on March 15, 2023.

What is the switching capacity of the Tomahawk 5 chips?

The Tomahawk 5 chips offer a switching capacity of 51.2 terabits/second, making them the most powerful on the market.

How many accelerators can the Tomahawk 5 support?

The Tomahawk 5 can connect up to 256 high-performance AI/ML accelerators, each with 200Gbps of bandwidth.

What features does Tomahawk 5 offer for network management?

Tomahawk 5 includes advanced Cognitive Routing, which optimizes network load balancing and enhances network resiliency.