Broadcom Demonstrates 10 GbE Performance At IDF

Broadcom will demonstrate 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) bi-directional line rate network performance at this week's Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco. The demonstration delivers 10 Gbps (Gigabits per second) bandwidth bi-directionally using four lanes (x4) of PCI Express 2.0 (PCIe 2.0), reducing system resource requirements for 10 Gbps Ethernet controllers. The demonstration features the Broadcom BCM57710 converged network interface controller (C-NIC) in conjunction with the advanced PCIe 2.0 host bus interface on Intel's Xeon 45nm-architecture server platform. The BCM57710 can support up to eight lanes of PCIe 2.0 or PCIe 1.1, and enables either 5 Gbps or 2.5 Gbps data rate per lane. Equivalent functionality previously required eight lanes of PCIe 1.1 bus connectivity that doubled the amount of signaling overhead in previous generation server systems, according to a Broadcom release. "Broadcom is committed to delivering leading-edge technology in our server controllers to achieve the highest level of performance possible," Vinod Lakhani, senior director of Broadcom's high-speed controllers line, said in a statement. "Broadcom's ability to support PCIe 2.0 in our 10GbE controller solution will enable our server OEM customers to leverage higher bus speeds for their next-generation server platforms."