BCM8421

Intelligent 1/2/4-Gb Fibre Channel Retimer/Repeater with EyeOpener®

For high-speed optical or copper links that reside within Fibre Channel switches and storage arrays, the BCM8421 single-channel, bi-directional retimer/repeater chip was developed to solve very difficult channel impairments that storage system designers have to address in these large and complicated network devices. With Broadcom's EyeOpener® technology, jitter performance can now be guaranteed on very difficult optical and copper interconnects and exceeds the Fibre Channel Intra and Inter Cabinet Signaling Specifications.

The BCM8421 also features Broadcom's advanced diagnostics called Active Signal Integrity (Active-SI™) and Active Link Integrity (Active-LI™) to help detect and recover from signal impairments at both the physical and link layers of the transmitted Fibre Channel data. With built-in advanced diagnostics, these devices greatly improve RAS (Reliability, Availability and Serviceability) to the storage network. Additionally, these products are developed utilizing 0.13-micron CMOS process technology and feature small BGA packaging to reduce board space and power requirements of storage networking equipment.

• Product Brief
  BCM8421