Broadcom has unveiled the Taurus BCM83640, the industry's first 3nm optical PAM4 DSP designed for next-generation AI networks. As AI clusters scale to hundreds of thousands of GPUs and XPUs, optical networking has become a critical bottleneck—and this new chip directly addresses the challenge.

Engineered for 1.6T transceivers while laying the groundwork for 3.2T modules, the Taurus DSP supports 204.8T switching architectures, matching the explosive bandwidth demands of AI data centers.

Key features of the BCM83640 include:

• 3nm monolithic integration with built-in laser driver

• Industry-leading bit error rate (BER) and power efficiency

• Interoperability with Broadcom's 400G EML and photodetectors

• Full compliance with IEEE and OIF standards

The chip delivers 400G per channel—double today's mainstream 200G—dramatically boosting bandwidth density. A single 1RU switch with 1.6T pluggable modules can now achieve 102.4T switching capacity, twice that of previous-generation technology.

Samples are already available to early customers, with an official launch at OFC 2026. Mass production is targeted for late 2026.

Industry experts view the Taurus BCM83640 as a milestone for AI optical interconnects, with 400G/channel technology accelerating adoption of 1.6T and 3.2T transceivers—projected to exceed 100 million units over the next five years.

ICgoodFind: Broadcom's 3nm DSP breaks AI data center bandwidth bottlenecks, accelerating optical interconnect evolution and driving high-end module advancement.