News Synopsys announces Ultra Ethernet and UALink IP to power the next-generation of AI datacenters

[Admin]

Synopsys introduces Ultra Ethernet IP solution for 1.6T Ethernet networks, UALink IP solution for linking up to 1,024 accelerators per pod.

Synopsys announces Ultra Ethernet and UALink IP to power the next-generation of AI datacenters : Read more

 

[bit_user]

Can anyone explain how a 224 Gbps PHY enables 1.6 Tbps Ethernet? Are there 8 channels per link, or something like that? The BaseT (Ethernet over copper) typically has 4 twisted pairs, though I realize they're not talking about copper, here.

 

[bit_user]

The UALink technology facilitates the connection of up to 1,024 accelerators per pod at 200 Gbps.

per-lane is the key qualifier missing from that sentence.

In case anyone is wondering how that compares to NVLink, I believe the version in Blackwell (5th gen) has 400 Gbps per lane, per direction. That's how they arrive at the figure of 1 GB/s per link. Nvidia always counts data flowing in both directions, even though the unidirectional speed is a lot more relevant for most applications.

NVLink & NVSwitch for Advanced Multi-GPU Communication

The Most Powerful End-to-End AI and HPC Data Center Platform.

www.nvidia.com

Nvidia says a single GB200 accelerator has 18 links, which are bi-directional.