Broadcom introduces Tomahawk 4, its high bandwidth Ethernet switch chip at 25.6 terabits per second

Broadcom announced that it has delivered the StrataXGS Tomahawk 4 switch series, demonstrating 25.6 terabits/sec of Ethernet switching performance in a single device— double the bandwidth of any other switch silicon currently available.

Delivered in less than two years after the previous 12.8Tbps product generation, Tomahawk 4 is implemented in 7nm technology with 512 50G PAM4 SerDes. Tomahawk 4’s high level of integration and highly efficient architecture delivers up to 75 percent lower power and cost compared to alternative solutions.

The growth of hyperscale cloud networks continues its unrelenting upward trend, with bandwidth increasing by 25 percent and storage by 36 percent year-over-year. Workloads for deep learning, using massively distributed neural networks and alternative computing nodes, require a dramatic increase in bandwidth with dense 100/200/400GbE links spanning high-radix, ultra-low-latency network topologies.

The continued trend towards disaggregated, high-density flash storage is concurrently demanding step functions in network throughput and reduced end-to-end access times. With its switching performance, high 100/200/400GbE port density, and rich feature set optimized for cloud use cases, Broadcom’s Tomahawk 4 is ideally suited to serve as the backbone for the next generation of hyperscale data center networks.

StrataXGS Tomahawk 4 Series enables next generation of high-throughput, low latency hyperscale networks with 64 ports of 400GbE switching and routing; comes with 256 ports supported on a single chip, enabling low-latency, single-hop networks for massive alternative compute cluster; and delivers connectivity using 512 instances of the industry’s highest performance and longest-reach 50G PAM4 SerDes core, enabling long-reach East-West optical links and Direct-Attached-Copper in-rack cabling in the data center.

The offering includes 25.6Tbps shared-buffer architecture, offering up to five times higher incast absorption and providing the highest performance and lowest end-to-end latency for RoCEv2 workloads; advanced load balancing mechanisms, virtually eliminating hash polarization and providing extremely efficient, controllable link utilization; and advanced congestion management, enabling new traffic management paradigms.

Broadcom also announced the introduction of Broadcom Open Network Switch APIs (OpenNSA), opening its SDK APIs for StrataXGS and StrataDNX products. Multiple open source network operating system initiatives are underway in the disaggregation ecosystem, focused on hyperscale and service provider markets. OpenNSA enables these initiatives on merchant silicon and allows the larger community to build on top of these efforts. 

OpenNSA also expands Open Compute Project efforts, like Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI), by simplifying the process of translating SAI APIs to Broadcom SDK APIs. Moreover, OpenNSA accelerates the SDN ecosystem by enhancing the toolset available for the developer community.

“The Tomahawk franchise is the flagship for cutting-edge, single-chip performance and integration among Broadcom’s multi-vectored Ethernet switch silicon portfolio, tailored to the unique and rigorous demands of hyperscale data center operators,” said Ram Velaga, senior vice president and general manager, Core Switching Group, Broadcom. “We are proud of our world-class engineering team for innovating and delivering the 25.6Tbps Tomahawk 4 chip in less than two years after we released Tomahawk 3.  Broadcom is proving yet again that customers can rely on us to lead the industry on switch silicon performance and execution at every generation.”

“Tomahawk 4 is an engineering tour de force, packing an unprecedented number of serdes into a monolithic 7nm chip,” said Bob Wheeler, principal analyst, The Linley Group. “As a result, Broadcom is once again first in delivering the next switch density, which hyperscalers need as they deploy 400G Ethernet.”

Tomahawk 4 accelerates the adoption of 100/200/400GbE Ethernet solutions at a point where optics utilizing 50G PAM4 electrical connectivity are shipping in high volumes. Products from Broadcom’s Optical Systems Division, which offers a suite of optical interconnect solutions supporting 50G PAM4 and 100G PAM4 optical data rates, complement Broadcom’s switch chips. The combination of switches and pluggable optics from Broadcom provides a complete system-level solution with plug-and-play functionality.

conova deploys ADVA OLS solution for highly secure DCI connectivity to deliver with ALM monitoring technology, encryption

ADVA announced that conova communications is using its technology for secure, high-capacity transport between data centers. conova has deployed the ADVA FSP 3000 open line system (OLS) with ConnectGuard Optical encryption in response to booming demand from business customers for reliable and protected cloud services. 

The fully redundant infrastructure supports 100Gbit/s Carrier Ethernet as well as 32Gbit/s Gen 6 Fibre Channel, a key requirement for the most advanced enterprise storage services. 

Featuring ADVA ALM fiber assurance technology, the new DCI network also enables rapid repair times and improves performance. The solution was designed and implemented by ADVA’s Elite partner dacoso, a German IT service provider focusing on connectivity, cyber defense and virtual networking.

conova’s new network is built on the ADVA FSP 3000 OLS, a high-performance packet-optical solution with low-power consumption and an extremely compact design. The infrastructure is protected by ConnectGuard Optical for network encryption at the lowest network layer. This is not only the most robust security method available, but it also maximizes throughput and ensures the lowest possible latency. 

The network is assured by the ADVA ALM fiber monitoring solution, which provides real-time information on fiber integrity for fast failure detection and short repair cycles. As the first platform on the market to achieve mainframe qualification for Gen 6 Fibre Channel transport, the ADVA FSP 3000 enables conova to make the leap to 32Gbit/s Fibre Channel and maximize the performance of flash-enhanced data storage in its facilities.

Keysight, FormFactor and CompoundTek come together to accelerate integrated photonics technologies

Keysight Technologies, a technology company that helps enterprises, service providers and governments accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world, FormFactor, a provider of essential test and measurement technologies along the full IC life cycle, and CompoundTek, a global foundry services leader in emerging silicon photonic solutions (SiPh), have joined forces to accelerate integrated photonics innovations.

Keysight, FormFactor and CompoundTek, have jointly developed an advanced photonics on-wafer testing solution that delivers industry-first capabilities including automated alignment, simultaneous optical-optical and optical-electrical device tests.

The joint solution, to be offered by CompoundTek, includes the FormFactor CM300xi-SiPh, with automated wafer level photonics positioning combined with Keysight’s industry standard IL/PDL engines and N7700A Photonics Application Suite (PAS), to support wavelength repeatability of ±1.5 pm at two-way sweeps up to 200 nm/s within 1240nm to 1650nm to ensure accuracy and repeatability from O-band to L-band.

Keysight’s N4373E 67 GHz Lightwave Component Analyzer which delivers unprecedented bandwidth for both optical receiver testing and optical transmitter testing with guaranteed specifications for electro-optical S-parameter measurements for device traceability.

Keysight’s PathWave software platform which provides a consistent user experience, common data formats and control interfaces. FormFactor’s SiPh software that enables automated calibrations and alignments and simplifies integration with Keysight’s PathWave software platform, as well as optical instrumentation, to ensure ease of use.

Qualstar works on a prototype enterprise class library solution with Sony Imaging

Qualstar Corp., provider of data storage systems, has developed a prototype enterprise class library solution with Sony Imaging Products & Solutions.

The highly scalable enterprise class library solution leverages Qualstar’s expertise and experience in designing efficient robotic-based storage systems. Utilizing Sony’s Optical Disc Archive Generation 3 technology, a single library will scale from 4.7 PB up to 50 PB. It can scale out to multi-library cluster configurations capable of managing hundreds of petabytes of archive data.

Through a wholly owned subsidiary, Qualstar also provides high efficiency and high density power supplies under the N2Power brand. Its N2Power power supply products provide compact and efficient power conversion for a wide variety of industries and applications, including but not limited to telecom, networking, broadcast, industrial, lighting, gaming, and test equipment.

“Today’s supercomputing environments need high capacity, scalable data storage solutions to archive data for a longer period of time,” said Arun Vaishampayan, Qualstar’s Vice President of Global Sales. “Sony’s Optical Disc Archive Generation 3 storage platform fulfills the needed requirements of this market.”

“We are delighted with the progress of this project,” said Steven N. Bronson, CEO of Qualstar. “We believe the jointly developed product will serve the needs of our valued customers and open new markets for optical devices.”

NTT Electronics contributes Goldstone - open source network OS for disaggregated coherent transponders to telecom infra project

NTT Electronics delivered on Wednesday its Goldstone Network Operating Software (NOS *1) for disaggregated coherent transponders to the Telecom Infra Project’s NOS Software Project hosted by the Open Optical and Packet Transport project group. Launched in February 2016, TIP was started with the goal of accelerating the pace of innovation in the telecom industry.

Goldstone utilizes many existing open source components which have been developed in Open Compute Project (OCP *2) and Telecom Infra Project (TIP *3) including Open Network Linux (ONL *4), SONiC *5, Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI *6) and Transponder Abstraction Interface (TAI *7) to provide a full-fledged open source solution. ONL is used as the base operating system and provides a wide range of open network device support. 

NTT Electronics (NEL) has been developing and commercializing optical communications devices since 1995. It has complete portfolio of optical and electronics products to cover the industry needs for 100G-and-beyond link systems, ROADM components and FTTH networks.

On top of ONL, Kubernetes *8 is employed to enable containerized application management, which realizes flexible and modular software composition. SONiC/SAI is deployed as a fleet of containers when the target hardware comprises Ethernet switch ASIC, whereas TAI is used when the target hardware has coherent transponder components. 

Due to its modular architecture, Goldstone can be extended to support networking devices, which don’t have Ethernet ASIC, but may include conventional transponders, ROADMs or amplifiers in the future.

Goldstone was originally started as a prototype NOS for Edgecore’s Cassini Platform by the proposal from NTT Electronics. This has led to a production deployment by mixi in Japan. 

More than five industry partners are using Goldstone for evaluation on the Cassini platform. It is also being incorporated in Wistron’s Galileo platform.

The NOS is planned to be contributed to TIP Open Optical Packet Transport (OOPT *9) group as an open source project. Goldstone is planned to be part of a live running demonstration at the TIP Summit 2019.