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Broadcom Intros New Family of Gigabit Ethernet Switches

Broadcom has announced the industry's first family of 65nm single-chip Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switch solutions for small-to-medium-sized business (SMB) applications. This highly integrated switch family includes 5-, 8-, 16- and 24-port configurations, with full Layer 2 (L2) switching to address the feature set and port density requirements of today's SMB networks.

The entire family is designed to support low power modes and comply with industry standards, while utilizing packaging materials free of lead and other harmful toxins, enabling 'green' switch products for the SMB market. Broadcom is the only silicon manufacturer to provide a complete 65nm GbE switch portfolio with power levels and price points that will drive Gigabit Ethernet adoption across all segments of the SMB market.

In today's SMB networks, there is a growing demand for reliable GbE switches that provide the bandwidth and intelligence necessary to support the convergence of voice, video and data on the same network. The SMB market is also extremely cost conscious and, as such, requires cost-effective solutions that support enterprise-class features such as reliability, high performance and quality of service (QoS). The integration made possible by 65nm CMOS process technology allows Broadcom to provide cost-effective, intelligent L2 GbE switches for the SMB space that facilitate simpler and scalable designs with reduced chip count and design complexity, and a lower total cost of ownership. With Ethernet port shipments in the SMB market expected to grow to more than 244 million ports by 2012 (according to In-Stat market research), Broadcom is uniquely positioned to benefit from growth in the SMB market.

Announced is the family of Broadcom single-chip 65nm GbE SMB switches that consists of the BCM53310 series, for unmanaged smart switches, and the BCM53118, for unmanaged switches and routers. A third product for wireless home routers and residential gateways, the BCM53115, was announced in November 2007 and rounds out the product family.

The BCM53310 series includes the BCM53313 (16-port) and the BCM53314 (24- port) and provides a complete GbE L2 switching solution for customers addressing the unmanaged and smart switch space. This new series of highly integrated switches is the first in the industry to integrate a MIPS processor, Broadcom's 65nm octal GbE physical layer (PHY) core, as well as QSGMII connectivity. Support for the QSGMII interface is significant as next generation switches are expected to adopt this technology as the standard interface for external PHY connectivity. Having both an integrated octal GbE PHY and QSGMII interface allows Broadcom to offer high performance switching solutions that reduce power consumption, design complexity and total system cost, creating an optimized platform for the cost-driven SMB market. Also offered with the BCM53310 series is Broadcom's BCM54684. The BCM54684, also in 65nm, is the industry's first standalone octal GbE PHY with QSGMII.

The BCM53310 series provides an impressive 40% reduction in total system power that helps reduce overall system costs. The series also offers a single platform that supports both 16- and 24-port GbE unmanaged and smart switch configurations. Broadcom's web-managed SmartPATH networking software, together with the BCM53310 series, provides SMB customers with a complete hardware and software solution. The new product series also implements unique, easy-to-use features such as AutoVoIP, which provides QoS to prioritize and differentiate voice packets on the network to enable support for VoIP phones. The AutoDoS feature monitors incoming packets for denial of service (DoS) frames, providing improved security by detecting DoS attacks.

The BCM53118 is a single-chip, 8-port GbE switch solution that underscores Broadcom's leadership in the unmanaged SMB switch and router market. Also designed in 65nm process technology, the BCM53118 achieves unprecedented integration, performance and support for a full L2 feature set at an optimal price point. The BCM53118 provides a 30% reduction in power in full traffic mode versus previous generation 8-port switch silicon solutions. The product can also automatically detect which ports are being utilized and scale the power consumption proportionately to save an additional 26% in power. This capability solves a universal need within the networking industry to lower the thermal and power consumption in switching devices, and ultimately provide end-users with a smaller, cooler device that takes up less space.

Announced in November 2007, the BCM53115 is a single-chip, 5-port GbE switch that enables the mass deployment of GbE connectivity to consumer electronic devices and home networking equipment. This intelligent switching solution has the industry's smallest footprint and also achieves a 30% reduction in power versus previous generation 5-port switch silicon solutions.



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