Broadcom has launched its most powerful networking chip yet, the Tomahawk 6, capable of processing 102.4 terabits per second—twice the capacity of any current Ethernet switch. Built on a cutting-edge 3-nanometer process and advanced chiplet technology, this breakthrough addresses the escalating bandwidth demands of massive AI clusters training large language models and other complex applications.
Designed to support over 100,000 GPUs and more than a million accelerator chips in a single deployment, Tomahawk 6 integrates innovative features like Cognitive Routing 2.0, which dynamically detects congestion and reroutes traffic to optimize performance. The chip also supports co-packaged optics, reducing power consumption and hardware costs by embedding transceivers directly into the switch processor, marking a significant leap in AI infrastructure efficiency.
This launch intensifies the competition between Broadcom’s Ethernet-based networking and Nvidia’s InfiniBand technology. While Nvidia focuses on custom solutions tied to its AI chips, Broadcom champions open standards and compatibility with existing data center infrastructure, aiming to simplify and scale AI networking without relying on proprietary technologies.
Industry leaders such as Arista Networks and AMD have praised the chip’s power efficiency and advanced packet processing capabilities. With unprecedented customer demand and multiple large-scale deployments planned, Broadcom’s Tomahawk 6 is poised to become a cornerstone of next-generation AI infrastructure, pushing the boundaries of speed and scalability in data center networking.
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