Editor: Linley
Gwennap In This Issue
A Guide to High-Speed Interconnects is available for immediate delivery. Are you up to speed on this critical technology? For more information, visit our web site. Broadcom Samples Next-Generation Layer 3 GbE Switch Last week, Broadcom announced sampling of the StrataXGS III, the company's fifth-generation Layer 3 Ethernet switch chips. Compared with StrataXGS II devices, the new switch chips improve integration and add IPv6 forwarding. The flagship BCM56504 is a single-chip 24xGbE plus 4x10GbE switch that integrates all table and packet memory. Other StrataXGS III family members offer the same feature set but have fewer or no 10GbE ports or no GbE ports (4x10GbE). To minimize pin count, the BCM56504 uses SGMII for all GbE ports and XAUI for its 10GbE ports; the 10GbE ports also support 10GBase-CX4 without external transceivers. For stackable or chassis designs, the 10GbE ports double as stacking ports, which Broadcom calls HiGig+. The proprietary HiGig+ protocol enables advanced features such as port trunking and mirroring across devices. Although based on a XAUI physical layer, HiGig+ offers a choice of 10Gbps or 12Gbps speeds. Broadcom has dominated merchant-chip shipments into Layer 3 GbE switch designs and even managed Layer 2 switches. But with only 12 GbE ports, StrataXGS II had fallen behind in integration compared with archrival Marvell's newest Prestera-DX chips. For Layer 3 designs, IPv6 is quickly becoming a must-have feature. With StrataXGS III, Broadcom has addressed both of these shortcomings in the prior-generation product. With an up-to-date product and many existing customers, Broadcom will be difficult to displace from enterprise-class GbE switch designs. —BW Complete
coverage of Broadcom's GbE products appears in our forthcoming
report A
Guide to Gigabit and 10G Ethernet Silicon. With platform wins at Ericsson and Lucent Technologies, RapidIO began 2004 with a foothold in cellular infrastructure equipment. Analog Devices and TI both announced plans to develop DSP products that include a RapidIO interface. Through 2004, the RapidIO Trade Association (RTA) has made slow and steady progress. In 3Q04, the RTA released a specification for multicast and data streaming. RTA members plan to announce more than 20 RapidIO-based products in 2005. For semiconductors, these will include RapidIO switches, processors, bridges, FPGAs, and silicon intellectual property (IP). We expect announcements from Tundra, Erlang Technologies, Freescale, and IDT. Other products will include boards, software and tools. On the backplane, RapidIO will have to compete with other interconnects, including ASI and InfiniBand, that are gathering momentum. Although the eventual winner may not emerge until 2006, this year will be telling to determine which interconnect will prevail. —JB In-depth
coverage of RapidIO appears in our new report A
Guide to High-Speed Interconnects. Last week, Agere announced the availability of a modular software package for its APP550 network processor, targeting multiservice applications. Consisting of data-plane and control-plane modules accessed across a functional programming interface (FPI), the new software, coded entirely in high-level languages, provides a production-ready solution for DSLAM line cards. Agere's FPI development partner, Indian firm HCL Technologies, also offers design services for customization and system integration. By turning its complex NPUs into configurable application-specific devices, Agere hopes to reduce the biggest adoption barrier for its NPU products: the cost of software development. —SI Complete coverage of the APP550 appears in our recent report A Guide to Network Processors. In 2004, sales of Gigabit Ethernet silicon surpassed those of Fast Ethernet chips for the first time. Vendors are taking full advantage of this technology transition to jockey for market share. Despite strong competition from incumbent vendors Broadcom and Marvell, new vendors are entering the Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) market, enticed by its high growth and substantial size. Large vendors have acquired startups to fill holes in their solutions. Instead of consolidating, the market for enterprise networking silicon is becoming increasingly competitive. A Guide to Gigabit and 10G Ethernet Silicon has been completely revised to address the rapid changes in this growing market. The report breaks this market into five key segments:
New in this edition is coverage of the emerging 10G Ethernet market, where several products have now appeared. These products come primarily from startups and other new entrants, including Chelsio, Intel, NetEffect, Neterion, Siliquent, and Fujitsu. The report delivers a complete chapter on each of the four major vendors that offer products in multiple segments: Broadcom, Marvell, Agere, and Vitesse. For each GbE product segment, we include a chapter covering other vendors and provide comparisons of the products in the segment. These chapters include coverage of switch chips from SwitchCore and Greenfield Networks, PHY chips from National Semiconductor, controller products from Intel and Realtek, as well as other vendors in each segment. Finally, we pick the winners and losers in each segment and overall. Unlike typical market research, this report provides comprehensive technology analysis rather than quantitative market data. Which chips will win designs and why? How will these vendors be positioned as GbE continues to take off? How soon will 10G Ethernet be a factor? Only The Linley Group's unique analysis can provide this forward-looking view. Order by February 28 to take advantage of a special prepublication discount. For more information on this report, visit our web site.
Nikkei Electronics: Octeon Creates New Class of Processor
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