Chipmaker Broadcom has announced its latest development that promises to accelerate the rollout of higher speed optical networking technologies.

At the 49th European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC 2023), Broadcom unveiled its new 5 nm 200 G/lane optical pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) digital signal processor (DSP) known as the Sian BCM85822.

The BCM85822 chip features an integrated laser driver and operates at 200 G/lane, utilizing PAM-4 modulation. Broadcom claims the new DSP enables industry-leading performance in key metrics like bit error rate and power consumption. Running on a compact 5 nm process node, the BCM85822 is optimized to deliver the lowest power 800 G and 1.6 T optical module solutions available.

Broadcom estimates the BCM85822 could enable a 51.2 terabit switching capacity within a single rack unit, significantly boosting network density for cloud providers.

"It is primarily meant for 1.6 T deployments in traditional data center networks, but it also lays the foundation for next generation 1.6 T/3.2 T deployments in AI [artificial intelligence] clusters," Natarajan Ramachandran, director of product line management at Broadcom, told SDxCentral.

Data center networks typically rely on electrical interfaces internally for data transfer, using Ethernet protocols. High-speed optical interfaces need to be able to integrate into those environments.

Ramachandran noted that traditional data center networks today can use 100 G electrical and 200 G optical, but the future goal that the BCM85822 will help to enable is 200 G for both electrical and optical.

According to Ramachandran, current AI workloads are using 800 G, which is a mix of 100 G electrical and 100 G optical connections. Broadcom's view is that those workloads will migrate to 1.6 T, with 200 G connections for both electrical and optical.

"The need for higher speeds and higher bandwidth is driving this transition," Ramachandran said. "The ecosystem needs to demonstrate that the transition is viable, and our DSP is probably the most important piece of that puzzle."

The Sian BCM85822 chip started sampling in August and is set for general availability in the middle of 2024.