Latest news with #Velaga
Indian Express
7 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Broadcom launches new Tomahawk Ultra networking chip in AI battle against Nvidia
Broadcom's chip unit unveiled on Tuesday a new networking processor that aims to speed artificial intelligence data crunching, which requires stringing together hundreds of chips that work together. The new chip is the latest piece of hardware that Broadcom has brought to bear against rival AI giant Nvidia. Broadcom helps Alphabet's Google produce its AI chips, which are perceived by developers and industry experts as one of the few viable alternatives to Nvidia's powerful graphics processors (GPUs). Dubbed the Tomahawk Ultra, Broadcom's chip acts as a traffic controller for data whizzing between dozens or hundreds of chips that sit relatively closely together inside a data center, such as inside a single server rack. The chip aims to compete with Nvidia's NVLink Switch chip which has a similar purpose, but the Tomahawk Ultra can tie together four times the number of chips, Ram Velaga, a Broadcom senior vice president, told Reuters in an interview. And instead of a proprietary protocol to move the data, it uses a boosted-for-speed version of ethernet. Both companies' chips help data center builders and others tie as many chips as possible together within a few feet of each other, a technique the industry calls 'scale-up' computing. By ensuring close-by chips can communicate with each other quickly, software developers can summon the computing horsepower necessary for AI. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will manufacture the Ultra line of processors with its five nano-meter process, Velaga said. The processor is now shipping. It took Broadcom's teams of engineers roughly three years to develop the design, which was originally built for a segment of the market known as high-performance computing. But as generative AI boomed, Broadcom adapted the chip for use by AI companies because it is suited to scaling up.
Mint
15-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Broadcom challenges Nvidia's AI dominance with ultra-connected Tomahawk networking chip launch
Broadcom has launched its latest networking processor, the Tomahawk Ultra, aimed at enhancing artificial intelligence (AI) workloads by improving chip-to-chip communication inside data centres. The launch marks a strategic move by the semiconductor firm to deepen its challenge to Nvidia's dominance in AI infrastructure. The Tomahawk Ultra is designed to act as a high-speed traffic controller, managing the vast streams of data exchanged between hundreds of interconnected processors. This function is critical in data centres where "scale-up" computing, linking numerous chips in close proximity, is vital to harnessing the computational power required for advanced AI tasks. Broadcom's new chip goes head-to-head with Nvidia's NVLink Switch, a key component in the GPU-maker's data centre offerings. However, according to Ram Velaga, Broadcom's Senior Vice President and General Manager for Core Switching, the Tomahawk Ultra offers a notable advantage: it can connect four times as many chips as Nvidia's counterpart. Additionally, instead of relying on a proprietary protocol, Broadcom has enhanced standard Ethernet to meet the high-speed demands of AI networking, an approach that could offer broader industry compatibility. The chip will be manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) using its 5-nanometre process technology. Shipments of the Tomahawk Ultra have already commenced, signalling Broadcom's readiness to provide a scalable alternative for companies building large-scale AI infrastructure. Originally designed for high-performance computing (HPC) applications, the processor was repurposed to meet the growing demands of AI developers amidst the rapid rise of generative AI. 'As the AI landscape evolved, we realised the architecture we had built lent itself well to scaling the kind of computing modern AI requires,' Velaga told Reuters. Broadcom already plays a key role in AI chip development through its partnership with Alphabet's Google, which uses Broadcom's technology to manufacture its in-house AI accelerators, considered among the few realistic alternatives to Nvidia's powerful GPUs.
Time of India
15-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Broadcom launches new Tomahawk Ultra networking chip in AI battle against Nvidia
Broadcom 's chip unit unveiled on Tuesday a new networking processor that aims to speed artificial intelligence data crunching, which requires stringing together hundreds of chips that work together. The new chip is the latest piece of hardware that Broadcom has brought to bear against rival AI giant Nvidia . Broadcom helps Alphabet 's Google produce its AI chips , which are perceived by developers and industry experts as one of the few viable alternatives to Nvidia's powerful graphics processors (GPUs). Dubbed the Tomahawk Ultra , Broadcom's chip acts as a traffic controller for data whizzing between dozens or hundreds of chips that sit relatively closely together inside a data center, such as inside a single server rack. The chip aims to compete with Nvidia's NVLink Switch chip which has a similar purpose, but the Tomahawk Ultra can tie together four times the number of chips, Ram Velaga, a Broadcom senior vice president, told Reuters in an interview. And instead of a proprietary protocol to move the data, it uses a boosted-for-speed version of ethernet . Both companies' chips help data center builders and others tie as many chips as possible together within a few feet of each other, a technique the industry calls "scale-up" computing. By ensuring close-by chips can communicate with each other quickly, software developers can summon the computing horsepower necessary for AI. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will manufacture the Ultra line of processors with its five nano-meter process, Velaga said. The processor is now shipping. It took Broadcom's teams of engineers roughly three years to develop the design, which was originally built for a segment of the market known as high-performance computing. But as generative AI boomed, Broadcom adapted the chip for use by AI companies because it is suited to scaling up.
Time of India
04-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Broadcom ships latest networking chip to speed AI
HighlightsBroadcom has launched its latest networking chip, the Tomahawk 6, which offers double the performance of its predecessor and enhanced traffic control features. The Tomahawk 6 is designed to support the construction of large-scale data centers for artificial intelligence applications, potentially accommodating over 100,000 graphics processing units (GPUs). This new chip utilizes a chiplet design, which has become popular among chip manufacturers, and is being produced using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's advanced three nanometer process. Broadcom has begun to ship its latest networking chip that aims to speed AI, the company said on Tuesday. The chip, called the Tomahawk 6 , boasts double the performance compared with the prior version and other traffic control features that make the networking chip significantly more efficient, Ram Velaga, a Broadcom senior vice president, told Reuters in a Monday interview. The speed boost means that fewer networking switches are needed to perform the same task, Velaga said. Broadcom's networking chips have gained increased importance because of AI. When constructing the necessary data centers for AI applications, infrastructure builders must string together hundreds or thousands of chips. Building large-scale clusters of networked chips requires specialized networking gear and chips, of which the Tomahawk series of processors is one such component. With the Tomahawk 6, Broadcom's engineers have boosted its speed and capabilities to the point where it can be used to construct the larger data centers that are necessary for AI, which can be over 100,000 graphics processors (GPUs) strung together, Velaga said. "In a couple of years, you will start to see a million GPUs housed inside a physical building," he said. Broadcom's networking chips use the Ethernet networking protocol, which has been a networking standard for decades. Nvidia produces hardware that uses a rival tech called InfiniBand and several products based on Ethernet. "All of these networks can be very simply done on Ethernet, you don't need esoteric technologies," Velaga said. The Tomahawk 6 is the first product in that line that will use several chips combined into a single package, a tech known as chiplets that is widely adopted by other chip designers such as Advanced Micro Devices. Adding chiplets roughly doubled the amount of silicon area used in the design, Velaga said. Broadcom is producing the Tomahawk switch on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's three nanometer process.
Time of India
04-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Broadcom ships latest networking chip to speed AI
By Max A. Cherney SAN FRANCISCO: Broadcom has begun to ship its latest networking chip that aims to speed AI, the company said on Tuesday. The chip, called the Tomahawk 6 , boasts double the performance compared with the prior version and other traffic control features that make the networking chip significantly more efficient, Ram Velaga, a Broadcom senior vice president, told Reuters in a Monday interview. The speed boost means that fewer networking switches are needed to perform the same task, Velaga said. Broadcom's networking chips have gained increased importance because of AI. When constructing the necessary data centers for AI applications, infrastructure builders must string together hundreds or thousands of chips. Building large-scale clusters of networked chips requires specialized networking gear and chips, of which the Tomahawk series of processors is one such component. With the Tomahawk 6, Broadcom's engineers have boosted its speed and capabilities to the point where it can be used to construct the larger data centers that are necessary for AI, which can be over 100,000 graphics processors (GPUs) strung together, Velaga said. "In a couple of years, you will start to see a million GPUs housed inside a physical building," he said. Broadcom's networking chips use the Ethernet networking protocol, which has been a networking standard for decades. Nvidia produces hardware that uses a rival tech called InfiniBand and several products based on Ethernet. "All of these networks can be very simply done on Ethernet, you don't need esoteric technologies," Velaga said. The Tomahawk 6 is the first product in that line that will use several chips combined into a single package, a tech known as chiplets that is widely adopted by other chip designers such as Advanced Micro Devices. Adding chiplets roughly doubled the amount of silicon area used in the design, Velaga said. Broadcom is producing the Tomahawk switch on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's three nanometer process.
