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  • NTT and Broadcom Team Up to Revolutionize Data Centers with Energy-Efficient Optical Chips

    NTT and Broadcom Team Up to Revolutionize Data Centers with Energy-Efficient Optical Chips

    In a significant move toward sustainable technology, Japanese telecommunications giant NTT has teamed up with U.S. chipmaker Broadcom and other key partners to pioneer optical-based semiconductor packages. This innovative collaboration aims to cut energy consumption in data centers, a must in an era where soaring energy demands are increasingly linked to the rise of generative AI workloads.

    Driving Significant Energy Reductions

    NTT revealed that these groundbreaking devices, set to hit the market next year, could potentially reduce data center power usage by as much as 50%. This prospect is particularly crucial as organizations worldwide grapple with the intense energy requirements posed by AI advancements.

    Harnessing the Power of Light

    The partnership advances NTT’s Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) initiative, which seeks to revolutionize information infrastructure through light-based communication technologies. By replacing traditional electrical wiring with optical signals, these new devices promise considerable enhancements in both processing speed and energy efficiency.

    “What counts most is to help society cut the use of electricity,” said NTT President and CEO, Shimada Akira, during a recent press conference announcing the collaboration.

    Forging Ahead in the AI Landscape

    By integrating optical interconnects into semiconductor packages, NTT and its allies aim to deliver processors that enable quicker and more efficient AI computations. The firm plans to supply these advanced products to U.S. companies developing generative AI systems, highlighting NTT’s expanding role in shaping the AI-driven digital infrastructure landscape. This is not just a step forward; it’s a leap into the future for tech processing efficiency.

    Commitment to Sustainable Solutions

    This initiative places NTT at the forefront of a vital global effort to achieve high-performance computing while adhering to environmental sustainability. As data volumes surge, the pressure to balance cutting-edge AI innovation with ecological responsibility has never been greater, and NTT’s efforts are a noteworthy contribution to this ongoing challenge.

    Questions & Answers

    How will the new optical-based semiconductor packages affect data center operations?
    The new packages are expected to reduce energy consumption in data centers by up to 50%, significantly improving efficiency, especially with the increasing demands of generative AI workloads.

    What is the IOWN initiative, and how does it relate to this partnership?
    The IOWN initiative, spearheaded by NTT, focuses on creating a next-generation information infrastructure through light-based communication technologies, aiming to replace traditional electrical systems to enhance processing speed and energy efficiency.

    Who will benefit from the new technology being developed?
    U.S. firms working on generative AI systems will be the primary beneficiaries, as NTT plans to supply these advanced optical devices to bolster their efforts in AI and digital infrastructure.

  • Revolutionary New Chip Boosts AI Network Efficiency with Lightning-Fast 102.4-Tbps Speed

    Revolutionary New Chip Boosts AI Network Efficiency with Lightning-Fast 102.4-Tbps Speed

    In a bold step toward revolutionizing the realm of artificial intelligence, Broadcom has unveiled the Tomahawk 6, a state-of-the-art Ethernet switch chip boasting an impressive bandwidth of 102.4 Tbps. This innovation is set to become a cornerstone of large-scale AI workloads, unlocking the potential for organizations to harness the power of expansive AI clusters.

    A New Era for AI Infrastructure

    What sets the Tomahawk 6 apart is its capability to support over a million auxiliary processing units (XPUs) in sprawling scale-out architectures, effectively doubling the bandwidth available compared to previous offerings. This leap in technology is more than just numbers; it paves the way for unprecedented computational power in AI applications.

    Advanced Features for Seamless Performance

    The chip comes equipped with advanced features, including 100 Gbps and 200 Gbps SerDes, co-packaged optics, and enhanced routing software designed for real-time congestion management. Not one to shy away from energy efficiency, Tomahawk 6 integrates long-reach passive copper support, reducing power consumption while also minimizing latency through sophisticated telemetry and adaptive routing systems.

    Simplifying Connectivity with Open Standards

    One of the key advantages of the Tomahawk 6 is its compatibility with standard Ethernet networks and multiple network topologies, simplifying the scaling process without the need for proprietary systems. Its adherence to open standards, such as those championed by the Ultra Ethernet Consortium and the newly established Scale Up Ethernet (SUE) Framework, signifies a strong commitment to fostering a more accessible technology landscape.

    Meeting the Demands of Generative AI

    As the demand for generative AI (GenAI) training, inference, and fine-tuning continues to surge, the Tomahawk 6 positions itself as a critical player in meeting these challenges. Broadcom has already lined up several large-scale deployments, with plans that include configurations featuring over 100,000 AI accelerators operating in production environments. This chip doesn’t just represent a technological upgrade; it embodies a significant shift in how industries may approach AI scalability.

    Questions & Answers

    How does Tomahawk 6 improve AI cluster performance?
    With its ability to support more than a million XPUs and deliver 102.4 Tbps bandwidth, Tomahawk 6 significantly enhances the performance and scalability of AI clusters.

    What advanced features does the Tomahawk 6 include?
    The chip features 100 Gbps and 200 Gbps SerDes, co-packaged optics, and advanced routing software for real-time congestion control, all designed to optimize performance while minimizing latency.

    Why is compatibility with open standards important?
    Being compatible with standard Ethernet networks and open standards ensures that the Tomahawk 6 can be easily integrated into existing infrastructure, allowing for flexible scaling and widespread adoption without being locked into proprietary solutions.

  • Samsung rumored to begin mass production of 3nm chips next week

    Samsung rumored to begin mass production of 3nm chips next week

    Right now there are only two independent foundries that are able to manufacture cutting-edge chips. The companies are TSMC and Samsung Foundry. Independent foundries take chip designs created by other firms and build the actual chips off of that design. Both TSMC and Samsung are working on building chips using their 3nm process nodes. The smaller the process node used, the larger the number of transistors found inside a chip.
    This is important because the more transistors employed in a chip, the more powerful and energy-efficient that chip can be. Every two years or so, the process node gets smaller and more transistors fit inside an integrated circuit. This is the famous “Moore’s Law” that you’ve heard about, named after Intel and Fairchild semiconductor co-founder Gordon Moore. Remember, this is not an actual law and as smaller and smaller components are being built, this “observation” no longer can be fully counted on to double the transistor count every other year.
    Still, over time, you can see how “Moore’s Law” has forecast the incredible increase in processing capabilities over the years. Let’s take the iPhone X, which was released in November 2017 powered by the Apple A10 Bionic chipset. The latter carried 4.3 billion transistors in each chip. Now let’s move ahead to the 2021 iPhone 13 series which sports the A15 Bionic chipset. The A15 Bionic contains 15 billion transistors, up 27.1% from the 11.8 billion transistors employed by the A14 Bionic chip.
    So now Samsung and TSMC are battling for supremacy in the business of building chips for third-parties. TSMC is number one in most metrics and its customer list includes top tech firms such as Apple (its number one customer), MediaTek, Nvidia, Qualcomm, and others. But it appears, according to ExtremeTech, that Samsung will soon beat out TSMC by starting mass production of chips made using its 3nm process node next week with TSMC starting 3nm mass production later this year.
    Additionally, Samsung is going to use a new transistor structure on its 3nm chips called GAA or gate-all-around. With this structure, the flow of current is controlled by gates that contact the transistor on all four sides. TSMC will continue to use the FinFET structure which has been in place since the 22nm process node debuted. TSMC will finally scrap FinFET for GAA when it starts shipping 2nm chips in 2026.
    Samsung’s GAA design is called Multi-Bridge Channel Field Effect Transistor (MBCFET) also known as nanowires. This is one of only two different gate-all-around designs currently available with the second one known as GAAFET or nanowire.
    The report cites a major Korean news agency that says Samsung is expected to make a major announcement about its 3nm chip production shortly. It also notes that the move to gate-all-around from FinFet will reduce the area of a chip by 45% to help deliver a performance bump of 30% while reducing energy consumption by 50%. However, there is a big problem. Samsung was reportedly getting yields of only 10% to 20% at 3nm meaning that the vast majority of its 3nm chip dies cut from a wafer could not pass quality control.
    Back in February, a report indicated that Samsung’s yield on 4nm production was only 35% resulting in Samsung losing some business from chip designer Qualcomm. The latter supposedly moved some of those orders to TSMC. However, if Samsung Foundry is about to announce the start of high volume manufacturing (HVM) at the 3nm process node, one could come to the conclusion that Samsung Foundry has improved its 3nm yield.
    Speaking of 3nm, TSMC’s major customers such as AMD, Apple, Broadcom, Intel, MediaTek, Nvidia, and Qualcomm, have started to queue up for 3nm capacity. And next on the horizon, of course, is the 2nm process node that both TSMC and Samsung are working on. Another name is expected to join TSMC and Samsung on the list of  cutting-edge foundries. Intel Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger has announced that the American company will regain process leadership from Samsung and TSMC by 2025.

     

  • Apple signs multiple year supply agreements with a major chipmaker

    Apple signs multiple year supply agreements with a major chipmaker

    A filing made by Broadcom with the SEC revealed that Apple has signed two multi-year deals with chipmaker Broadcom that are separate from current agreements with the latter that supply Apple with radio frequency components and modules. Altogether, Apple’s business could generate $15 billion in revenue for Broadcom. In December, Broadcom said that business from Apple represented 25% of its gross in 2018 and 20% last year. In 2019, Apple and Broadcom settled a patent suit which led the two firms to sign a 2019 “statement of work” (SOW) and the just-announced 2020 SOW.
    According to the SEC filing, the parts being purchased by Apple will be used in new products over a three and a half year period. While the SEC 8-K submission did not specify exactly which components Broadcom will supply to Apple, the chipmaker’s Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chips and its Avago branded RF front-end chip are all found inside Apple’s iPhone 11 series.
    With Apple looking to launch 5G enabled iPhone models later this year, it is quite possible that the deals with Broadcom may supply it with 5G components. One analyst, Patrick Moorhead from Moor Insights, says that it is also possible that the deals announced today are for parts related to 4G LTE connectivity. Broadcom is one of Apple’s largest American parts suppliers with J.P. Morgan computing in 2018 that each iPhone contained $10 worth of Broadcom components.
    Broadcom investors fell over each other throwing money at the stock today. During the regular trading session, the shares rose $6.77 or 2.16% to close at $319.65. In after-hours trading, after the news broke, Broadcom soared another $8.33 or 2.61% to
    You might recall that in November 2017, Broadcom offered to buy chipmaker Qualcomm; among other things, the firm designs the Snapdragon line of wireless chipsets and wireless modems. The merger proposal was rejected by Qualcomm and Broadcom then rose the price it was willing to pay for the San Diego based company. But Qualcomm said it still wouldn’t be interested unless the price was hiked to $160 billion.
    Eventually, President Donald Trump put the kibosh on the takeover talk by claiming that a Broadcom acquisition of Qualcomm would put national security at risk. Trump signed an executive order immediately blocking the merger from moving forward. This came about after a March 2018 letter from the U.S. Treasury’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) was sent to two Broadcom lawyers. The letter pointed out that since Broadcom was headquartered in a foreign country, Qualcomm’s assets could be exploited by “third party foreign entities.”
    Looking to keep the deal alive, Broadcom moved up its previous plans to establish itself as a U.S. company registered in Delaware. But before this could ever happen, Trump put the blocked the deal. At the time, an official statement from the president read, “There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that Broadcom Limited, a limited company organized under the laws of Singapore (Broadcom)…through exercising control of Qualcomm Incorporated (Qualcomm), a Delaware corporation, might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.”
    As with many things wireless these days, the scare over national security revolves around the next generation of wireless connectivity, 5G. Qualcomm’s 5G modem chips will be found in the vast majority of 5G handsets in the states and the Trump administration was concerned, like it is with Huawei, about a foreign country gaining access to private information from U.S. citizens and corporations.
    While the president prevented Broadcom from purchasing Qualcomm, it is interesting that nothing is done to prevent Apple from using the company’s components for its 5G phones.
  • Broadcom to acquire Brocade for $5.9b

    Broadcom to acquire Brocade for $5.9b

    Chipmaker Broadcom has announced a $5.9 billion deal to acquire network equipment manufacturer Brocade to enhance its position in the storage networking business.

    The acquisition, which involves $5.5 billion in cash and the assumption of $400,000 in debt, includes the assets of Ruckus Wireless, which Brocade purchased for $1.2 billion earlier this year.

    But Broadcom has announced that it intends to divest Brocade’s IP networking business, which includes wireless and campus networking, data center switching and routing, as well as SDN. This represents a substantial part of the Ruckus Wireless assets.

    Broadcom anticipates that Brocade’s remaining fiber channel storage area network (FC SAN) business will contribute around $900 million to the company’s ebitda for its 2018 fiscal year.

    “This strategic acquisition enhances Broadcom’s position as one of the leading providers of enterprise storage connectivity solutions to OEM customers,” Broadcom president and CEO Hock Tan said.

    “With deep expertise in mission-critical storage networking, Brocade increases our ability to address the evolving needs of our OEM customers. In addition, we are confident that we will find a great home for Brocade’s valuable IP networking business that will best position that business for its next phase of growth.”

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