At Optical Fiber Communication (OFC) 2024, Broadcom Inc. has introduced what it claims is the first 51.2 terabits per sec (Tbps) co-packaged optics (CPO) Ethernet switch that integrates eight silicon photonics with the company’s Tomahawk 5 switch chip.
Called Bailly, the switch allows optical interconnect to operate at 70% lower power consumption while also delivering an eight times improvement in silicon area efficiency compared to pluggable transceiver solutions.
Optical interconnects are used for front-end and back-end networks in large scale generative artificial intelligence (AI) clusters. Pluggable optical transceivers consume about 50% of system power and constitute more than 50% of the cost of a traditional switch system, Broadcom said.
With these systems growing, more bandwidth will be needed. Broadcom said the Bailly switch can build large scale, power efficient AI clusters.
Other features of the switch include:
- Minimizes need for signal conditioning circuitry
- Integrates hundreds of optical components
- Features hundreds of millions of transistors
- Integrates 6.4T-FR4 Bailly SCIP optical engines
- Includes 4RU system design and 128 ports of 400G FR4 connectivity
- Features CPO engine to front-panel routing
- Supports RLMs
Broadcom will showcase these technologies at the OFC 2024 trade show in San Diego, California, on March 26-28.
