Broadcom unveils new line of optical transport framer/PHYs

Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) has introduced a new line of Optical Transport Network (OTN) framer physical layer transceivers (PHYs). The BCM845xx Series offers what the company claims is the industry's highest level of integration and the lowest power per port, allowing system providers to reduce overall bill-of-material costs, while meeting increasing performance and density demands in LAN, WAN, and OTN carrier networks.

The wealth of bandwidth-hungry multimedia applications and services is driving demand for high-capacity packet transport networks, says Broadcom. Users are consuming more dynamic services, and as more applications are moved to the cloud, new network traffic patterns are placing an ever-increasing demand on existing architectures. To meet this demand, system vendors are seeking higher density, lower power, and multi-service support devices that are optimized to enable the next generation of high-performance converged networks.

"We anticipate breakout growth for this segment as carriers continue to embrace and deploy OTN. According to our recent report, OTN transport and switching equipment will be nearly a $13 billion market by 2017," said Andrew Schmitt, principal analyst for optical at market research firm Infonetics.

The BCM845xx Series features three device options including the BCM84520 20G version, the BCM84540 40G version and the BCM84512 120G version. Each device offers a powerful combination of mixed signal and digital processing functionality including high-speed PHY, electronic dispersion compensation (EDC), clock synthesis, jitter-filtering phase-lock loops (PLLs), and selectable forward error correction (FEC) codes. Comprehensive application coverage enables interoperability between different network operators and system equipment vendors.

The BCM854xx Series, including multiple device options, is now sampling with volume production slated for Q2 2013. Broadcom's optical networking portfolio will be on display at OFC/NFOEC booth #1052.

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