At the high end of the carrier network chip market, Broadcom’s competition is not just with Intel, Cavium, EazyChip, Marvell and others, but the still-extensive use of custom ASICs by major OEMs such as Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent and other major infrastructure suppliers. Broadcom’s latest chip to lure vendors to the merchant processor market is the StrataDNX family, which includes the first off-the-shelf packet processor to support 400Gbps Ethernet networking.
This is achieved using the new 400G Interlaken interface, the fastest link on any Broadcom chip, according to the company. Another member of the range can deliver 800Gbps throughput while still acting as a packet processor, which could point to more compact data center switches and other gear. Other applications could include systems which combine optical transport network and carrier Ethernet capabilities in a single chassis; or aggregation switches incorporating 72 10GE ports at the edge of a wired or wireless network.
Broadcom says the programmability of its range will be important for software-defined and virtualized networks. The new line-up is manufactured in 28nm process, reducing power consumption and cost compared to the previous 40nm generation, which was adopted by NEC, Arista and others in high end communications switches. Now Broadcom needs to convert more such vendors to its platform, while maintaining its focus on high end, high margin design wins.
The offering traces its roots to Broadcom’s acquisition of Dune in 2009, which brought high end switch fabric chips into the fold. The new parent firm has evolved those original products into fully fledged packet processors and Ethernet switches so they can be targeted at a wide variety of equipment. That means that, while Broadcom has competitors in most areas of communications infrastructure, it is virtually unrivalled in merchant switch fabric chips, except by custom ASICs.
Not everything has been smooth in Broadcom’s high end communications business though. Its acquisition of NetLogic in 2011 brought advanced multicore processors into its range, allowing it to go head-to-head with firms like EZchip and Xelerated (now part of Marvell). However, it paid a high price, $3.61bn, for the firm, which has not been justified by sales, despite the strategic fit of NetLogic’s platform. Broadcom has taken two write-downs, of $462m and $233m, on the deal.
Analysts at Linley Group say that the NetLogic XLR processor has done well for its new owner, but the market for its knowledge-based processors has been contracting, especially as Cisco acquired a start-up in the same area and applied the technology to its internally developed ASICs rather than buying outside.