February 5, 2013 – Broadcom, a global wired and wireless semiconductor company, today unveiled a new family of switch SoC solutions optimized for enterprise mobility and network demands. The newly unveiled Broadcom StrataXGS BCM56340 series features innovative and diverse capabilities, including providing secure, seamless, high-speed connectivity to data center and cloud computing storage resources, and simplifying the provisioning and monitoring of mobile user traffic.

As the number of connected devices and the launch of cloud-based applications continue to increase, the demand for high-bandwidth enterprise networks is growing rapidly. Enterprise IT managers must implement more scalable, cost-effective, and secure platforms within a unified infrastructure to keep pace with the BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Device) environment, which is becoming a recent trend in enterprises.

Matthias Machowinski, Principal Analyst for Enterprise Network and Video at Infonetics, stated, "Providing access to applications and data anytime, anywhere, regardless of the device, is placing significant pressure on IT organizations." He added, "Market demand for broadband, consolidation, and intelligent security features is expanding to a large number of users. Broadcom's recent innovations for the enterprise will further solidify its position as a leading vendor."

The BCM56340 series is built on the proven Strata XGS architecture and provides 120Gbps performance with high-capacity forwarding tables to meet the growing needs of mobile users in enterprise campus networks. App-IQ Security Intelligence reduces network bottlenecks and provides enhanced application visibility by providing enterprise firewall capabilities to all access ports. The CAPWAP (Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points Protocol) tunnel port feature enables seamless wired and wireless integration. Additionally, 48-port Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switching cores, a dual-core ARM A9 CPU, and energy-efficient 10GbE SerDes uplinks are densely integrated into a single-chip solution.

Ram Velaga, Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom’s Core Switch business unit, stated, “The rapid increase in the use of mobile devices within enterprises is placing a strain on networks in terms of broadband, data security, and connectivity to services,” adding, “IT administrators are seeking solutions that can enable more agile and secure networks.” “The Strata XGS device was designed to address these challenges and provides maximum stackable port density and performance, extensive security intelligence, and integrated switching capabilities covering LAN, WLAN, and data centers in a single-chip solution,” he added.

Market conditions
• 89% of enterprise networks implement BYOD environments.
• 75% of U.S. IT managers argue that new rules must be established regarding security and device usage.
• 90% of IT administrators feel that there is a security risk when using mobile devices.
• 1/10/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet ports are expected to exceed 600 million by 2016.

Key Features
• App-IQ security intelligence provides high-bandwidth DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) for highly granular applications
• Integrated smart-buffering capabilities absorb bursty workloads and provide management optimized for network congestion.
• Integrated smart-table technology provides large-scale Layer 2 and Layer 3 forwarding along with flexible network topology-based provisioning.
• Layer 2 multiplexing and network virtualization via IEEE 802.1BR enable optimal workload mobility
• Large IPv6 forwarding tables, stacking up to 80G, and optional 40GE uplink capabilities provide maximum scalability suitable for enterprise network environments.

The Strata XGS BCM56340 series is currently being supplied as a sample with various device options, and mass production is scheduled for the second half of 2013.