• Broadcom Thor Ultra 800G Ethernet card targets the AI era with a staggering 800G Ethernet design
• Broadcom pushes PCIe Gen6 performance directly into demanding AI data center workloads
• Traditional RDMA meets its replacement as Thor Ultra redefines packet control precision

Broadcom has introduced the Thor Ultra, described as the industry’s first 800G AI Ethernet Network Interface Card (NIC).

The card is designed for large data center environments which power advanced AI tools and workloads involving hundreds of thousands of XPUs.

Using PCIe Gen6 x16, Thor Ultra improves throughput for Ethernet cards and targets AI data centers where performance and scalability are essential.

Modernizing RDMA for complex AI networks

The Broadcom Thor Ultra 800G Ethernet card addresses several limitations found in traditional RDMA, which lacks multipathing and scalable congestion control.

Broadcom’s redesign adds “Packet-Level Multipathing” and “Out-of-Order Packet Delivery,” enabling more efficient use of network resources.

Selective retransmission and programmable congestion control have also been added to reduce latency and data loss in high-load environments.

The approach follows the open Ultra Ethernet Consortium (UEC) specification rather than a proprietary model.

It allows customers to connect to any compatible network switch or XPU without being tied to a single vendor’s infrastructure.

The Thor Ultra supports 200G or 100G PAM4 SerDes and long-reach passive copper, while offering one of the lowest bit error rates in the industry to minimize connection instability.

Its PCIe Gen6 x16 interface lets it move data at extreme speeds suitable for AI-driven workloads.

The card can also perform line-rate encryption and decryption with PSP offload, which reduces computational strain on the host system.

Secure boot and signed firmware strengthen device trust, while packet trimming and congestion signaling align it with Broadcom’s Tomahawk 5 and 6 switches.

Broadcom describes Thor Ultra as a cornerstone of its Ethernet AI networking strategy, joining products such as Tomahawk Ultra and Jericho 4.

The company says that together, these components enable a scalable, open ecosystem for high-performance AI computing.

Still, it remains to be seen how well Thor Ultra integrates with other vendors’ technologies or whether its benefits outweigh the cost and complexity of deployment in non-specialized settings.

Broadcom has begun sampling Thor Ultra, which suggests that it may soon begin adoption among early partners and AI data center operators.

Via TechPowerUp

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