Broadcom 10GBASE-T PHYs deliver 50 percent lower power

IRVINE, USA: Broadcom Corp. announced the addition of two 10GBASE-T physical layer transceivers (PHYs) to its growing portfolio of 10GBASE-T networking solutions.

Optimized for top-of-rack switches, 10GbE server adapters and LOMs (LAN on motherboard) in the data center, the highly integrated quad-port BCM84844 and dual-port BCM84846 lower operating power by more than 50 percent. The new PHYs substantially reduce power consumption at 10GE to less than two watts per port through the use of EEE, and extend the benefits of EEE to include all device speeds including 1GbE.

As a result of increasing network traffic and higher bandwidth servers such as Romley, industry analysts predict a 20x increase in 10GBASE-T adoption by 2013, as data centers upgrade to higher densities. Broadcom's second generation 40 nanometer (nm) PHYs drive innovation in 10GbE, offering robust operation over 100 meter cables while significantly reducing footprint, cost and power consumption.

Power is critical as network managers seek to reduce cost and carbon footprint of large scale data centers. Broadcom's AutoGrEEEn technology enables systems with legacy MACs to get the power savings of EEE in periods of reduced link utilization. Both PHYs provide on-chip IEEE802.1ae MACsec link layer security and 1588v2 precision time protocol (PTP), delivering precise and accurate synchronization of nodes in the network.

Broadcom's new BCM84844 and BCM84846 deliver lower power while offering pin compatibility to previous Broadcom devices (BCM84834 and BCM84836) and integration with Broadcom's broad portfolio of switch, controller, and adapter solutions. This includes PHY drivers within Broadcom's Software Development Kit (SDK) and common implementations of MACsec and 1588v2 PTP.