Broadcom Hardware Overview

Date created: Thursday, June 30, 2022 2:38:23 PM. Last modified: Tuesday, November 5, 2024 5:28:53 PM

Broadcom Hardware Overview

Overview

All of the StrataDNX and StrataXGS series ASICs are pipeline based forwarding ASICs, none of them are run-to-completion NPU style chips.

Typical uses for the different ASIC product lines are:

Jericho -> for deep buffer requirements
Tomahawk -> for shallow buffer IP fabrics
Trident -> for shallow buffer EVPN fabrics (VXLAN VTEP)

StrataDNX Series

In Summary:
Broadcom Dune - ???
Broadcom Jericho - programmable pipeline, mid-level throughput, support for full tables, large buffers
Broadcom Qumran - programmable pipeline, large buffers

StrataDNX Dune "Arad" BCM88650 supports 200Gbps of full duplex capacity, 1GE/10GE/40GE/100GE ports, and off-chip buffers (DDR3 DRAM-based). Optionally supports external KBP (BCM15K / BCM52311).
StrataDNX Dune Jericho BCM88670 supports 720Gbps of full-duplex capacity, 10GE/25GE/40GE/50GE/100GE ports, using 24x 25Gbps front facing PAM4 SerDes with 48x 10Gbps backplane facing PAM4 SerDes, with 8GBs of on-chip GDDR5/DDR3 buffers. Optionally supports external KBP (BCM15K / BCM52311).
StrataDNX Jericho+ BCM88680 supports 900Gbps of full-duplex capacity (837Mpps), 10GE/25GE/40GE/50GE/100GE ports, using 48x 25Gbps + 24x 10Gbps from facing PAM4 SerDes, with 48x 25Gbps fabric facing PAM4 SerDes, with 4GBs of on-chip GDDR5/DDR4 buffers. Optionally supports external KBP (BCM16K).
StrataDNX Jericho2C BCM88800 supports 2.4Tbps of full-duplex capacity (1Bpps), 1GE/10GE/25GE/40GE/50GE/100GE ports, using 96x 25Gbps NRZ front side PAM4 SerDes + 48x 50Gbps fabric facing PAM4 SerDes, with 16MBs of on-chip SRAM buffers and 4GBs of off-chip HBM2 buffers. Optionally supports external KBP (BCM16K). This is a reduced bandwidth version of the Jericho2.
StrataDNX Jericho2 BCM88690 supports 4.8Tbps (at packet sizes above 284B) of full-duplex capacity (2Bpps), 25GE/50GE/100GE/200GE/400GE ports, using 96x 53.125Gbps PAM4 SerDes front side + 112 x 53.125 Gbps PAM4 SerDes for fabric facing (using a BCM88790 "Ramon" device), with 32MBs of on-chip SRAM buffers and 2x 4GBs HBM2s for 8GBs of off-chip buffers. Optionally supports external KBP (BCM16K).
StrataDNX Jercicho2C+ BCM88850 supports 7.2Tbps of full-duplex capacity (2.7Bpps), 25GE/50GE/100GE/200GE/400GE ports, using 144x 50Gbps front facing PAM4 SerDes + 192x 50Gbps fabric PAM4 SerDes, with 64MBs of on-chip SRAM buffers and 8GBs of HBM2 buffers. Optionally supports external KBP (BCM16K).

StrataDNX Qumran MX BCM88370 supports 800Gbps of full-duplex capacity, 10GE/25GE/40GE/50GE/100GE ports, using 24x 25Gbps and 48x 10Gbps of front facing PAM4 SerDes, with 3GBs of off-chip buffers (GDDR5/DDR4 DRAM-based).
StrataDNX Qumran AX BCM88470 supports 300Gbps of full-duplex capacity, 1GE/2.5GE/10GE/40GE/100GE ports, using 16x 25Gbps and 32x 10Gbps PAM4 SerDes (mixed front and back facing), with 3GBs of off-chip buffers (GDDR5/DDR4 DRAM-based).
StrataDNX Qumran UX BCM88270 supports 120Gbps of full-duplex capacity, 1GE/2.5GE/10GE/40GE ports, using 8x 10Gbps and 28x 2.5Gbps front facing PAM4 SerDes, with 3GBs of off-chip buffers (GDDR5/DDR4 DRAM-based).
StrataDNX Qumran 2C BCM88820 supports 2.4Tbps of full-duplex capacity (1Bpps), 10GE/25GE/40GE/50GE/100GE/200GE/400GE ports, using 32x 50Gbps PAM4 and 96x 25Gbps NRZ front facing SerDes, with 16MB of on-chip SRAM buffers and 4GBs of off-chip HBM2 buffers. Optionally supports external KBP (BCM16K). This is a reduced bandwidth version of the Jericho2.

StrataXGS Series

In Summary:
Broadcom Tomahawk - Higher throughput, small buffers, small forwarding table
Broadcom Trident - Lower throughpput, larger buffers, larger forwarding table
(*it really depends on how the switch/router vendor implements these chips)

StrataXGS Tomahawk BCM56960 supports 3.2Tbps of full-duplex capacity, 25GE/40GE/100GE ports, using 128x 25Gbps PAM4 SerDes, with 12MBs of on-chip buffers.
StrataXGS Tomahawk2 BCM56970 supports 6.4Tbps of full-duplex capacity, 10GE/20GE/25GE/40GE/50GE/100GE ports, using 256x 25G PAM4 SerDes, with has 42MBs of on-chip buffers.
StrataXGS Tomahawk3 BCM56980 supports 12.8Tbps of full-duplex capacity (8Bpps), 10GE/25GE/40GE/50GE/100GE/200GE/400GE using 256x 50Gbps PAM4 SerDes, with 64MBs of on-chip buffers.
StrataXGS Tomahawk4 BCM56990 supports 25.6Tbps of full-duplex capacity, 10GE/25GE/40GE/100GE/200GE/400GE ports, using 512x 50Gbps PAM4 SerDes, with 113MBs of on-chip buffers.
StrataXGS Tomahawk5 BCM78900 supports 51.2Tbps of full-duplex capacity, 50GE/100GE/200GE/400GE/800GE ports, using 512x 100G PAM4 SerDes,

StrataXGS Trident2 BCM56850 supports 1.2Tbps of full-duplex capacity, 1GE/10GE/40GE ports, using 128x 10Gbps PAM4 SerDes, with 12MBs of on-chip buffers.
StrataXGS Trident2+ BCM56860 supports 1.2Tbps of full-duplex capacity, 1GE/10GE/40GE/100GE ports, using 128x 10Gbps PAM4 SerDes (requires a gearbox for 25GE ports).
StrataXGS Trident3-X7 BCM56870 supports 3.2Tbps of full-duplex capacity (2Bpps), 10GE/25GE/40GE/50GE/100GE ports, using 128x 25Gbps PAM4 SerDes, and has 32MBs of on-chip buffers.
StrataXGS Trident4-X11 BCM56880 supports 12.4Tbps of full-duplex capacity, 100GE/200GE/400GE ports, using 256x 50Gbps PAM4 SerDes (BH7), with 132MBs of on-chip buffers.

Fabric

StrataDNX Ramon BCM88790 is a Fabric Element which connects other ASICs / NPUs together. It supports 9.6Tbps of full-duplex capacity using 192x 50Gbps PAM4 SerDes.

SerDes

The SerDes is the "Serializer / Deserializer." Its job is to convert parallel words in the switch data path to a bit stream for transmission. And it does the reverse for reception.

BlackhawkCore (BC) are front facing 50Gbps PAM SerDes (multiple 50G lanes per BC?).
Blackhawk7 (BH) are front facing 50Gbps PAM4 SerDes (multiple 50G lanes per BH?).
Osprey are front facing 100Gbps PAM4 SerDes.
Merlin are management port facing SerDes.

Gearboxes

https://www.broadcom.com/products/ethernet-connectivity/phy-and-poe/optical/bcm81724

A gearbox may be needed to break a 50Gbps PAM4 SerDes lane in to 2x 25Gbps NRZ lanes for 25Gbps interfaces.

KBP / Knowledge-Based Processors

https://www.broadcom.com/products/embedded-and-networking-processors/knowledge-based

BCM16K is an example of a Broadcom KPB which serves as an optional external component to a Jericho2 BCM88690 (amongst others), which provides off-chip forwarding database storage and lookups. The device uses SRAM for fast data lookup times and supports up to 16 parallel searches. From the docs:

The processor can be used in many applications, including;
- IPv4 and IPv6 Packet Classification
- Access Control Lists
- Policy-based Routing and QoS
- IPv4 and IPv6 Longest Prefix Match
- Flow-based Access Control Lists

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Broadcom Hardware Overview