Broadcom Launches High-Speed Tomahawk 6 Networking Chip to Power AI Infrastructure
Broadcom has begun shipping its latest networking chip, the Tomahawk 6, designed to significantly enhance the speed and efficiency of AI-related data center infrastructure. According to Broadcom Senior Vice President Ram Velaga, the new chip delivers twice the performance of its predecessor and includes advanced traffic control features that reduce the need for as many networking switches.
In an interview with Reuters, Velaga explained that the Tomahawk 6 plays a crucial role in supporting the rapid growth of AI, where building powerful data centers often involves connecting hundreds or even thousands of chips. These large-scale clusters rely on highly efficient networking hardware, and Broadcom's Tomahawk series has become an essential component for such deployments.
With the improved performance of the Tomahawk 6, Broadcom aims to support the construction of massive data centers capable of linking over 100,000 GPUs. Velaga projected that in just a few years, data centers housing as many as one million GPUs could become a reality.
Broadcom's networking chips are built on the widely used Ethernet protocol, a long-standing industry standard. While Nvidia offers competing solutions that rely on InfiniBand and some Ethernet-based products, Velaga emphasized the simplicity and scalability of Ethernet for high-performance networks.
The Tomahawk 6 also marks a technological shift for Broadcom, as it is the first in the series to incorporate chiplets (multiple chips) combined into a single package. This design approach, already used by companies like AMD, allows for greater functionality and nearly doubles the silicon area compared to previous models.
The Tomahawk 6 is manufactured using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s advanced three-nanometer process, reflecting Broadcom’s commitment to cutting-edge chip production techniques.
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