Sunday, July 13, 2003

Broadcom Delivers 6th Generation Layer 2+ Switch-on-a-Chip

Broadcom introduced its sixth generation Layer 2+, Ethernet switch-on-a-chip featuring a software management suite for remote-office/branch-office (ROBO) and small-to-medium business (SMB) environments. The new chip combines all of the functions of a standalone 9-port Fast Ethernet switch system, including the integration of memory, physical layer (PHY) transceivers, media access controllers (MACs), address management and a non-blocking switch fabric. In addition, the chip's architecture allows it to cascade to 16, 24, or 32 port Fast Ethernet switching systems through a 3.2 Gbps expansion bus. The switch supports 802.1Q (VLAN), 802.1p (four priority queues), DiffServ, ToS, 802.1D (Spanning Tree), 802.1x protocols, IP multicast and IGMP snooping for video streaming applications. The software suite includes drivers and an application programming interface (API) and system development kit to accelerate the product development cycle for a Layer 2+ managed switch. Sampling is underway.
http://www.broadcom.com