By Cliff Robinson
Publication Date: 2026-03-11 13:00:00
AI is placing unprecedented demands on data center infrastructure. As AI clusters scale to 100,000-plus GPUs and XPUs, requiring gigawatt-scale power facilities, the optical networks connecting them have become the critical bottleneck. Enter Broadcom Taurus BCM83640, a 3nm 400G per lane optical PAM4 DSP, designed specifically to enable 1.6T transceivers and lay the groundwork for even faster 3.2T modules capable of supporting 204.8T switching fabrics.
What Is Taurus?
The Broadcom Taurus, or the Broadcom BCM83640, represents a significant leap in optical networking technology. Built on a 3nm process node, this monolithic PAM-4 DSP functions as an 8 to 4 gearbox PHY and driver. Broadcom says that this design choice delivers best-in-class performance in both bit error rate and power consumption. Taurus doubles the throughput per lane to enable the next generation of 3.2T optical modules.
Broadcom says the device complies with current…
