Help finding gigabit ethernet switch ICs

[DaveW]

Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone has come across any good gigabit switch ICs with 5+ ports, preferably something that can run without an MCU having to perform any setup. The usual suspects of Micrel, now Microchip and others don't seem to offer any gigbit performance ICs. I have found some from Realtek, Microsemi and Broadcom, but I'm reluctant to use the latter as this is a low volume commercial project, so I can't imagine I'll get much enthusiasm from them to support it and without that looks pretty hard to get hold of any. The Microsemi unmanaged switches all seem to be in the sample stage, although maybe the "lightly managed" variants might be suitable. Does anyone have any experience of dealing with Realtek, Microsemi switches or know of any better suppliers?

Thanks for your help!
Dave

[AndyC_772]

I'm a bit rusty on this, but IIRC in the UK, Future Electronics are a rep for Realtek, which makes getting hold of parts and data much easier than you might expect.

Another vendor worth looking into would be Marvell for a Gbit switch chip.

[DaveW]

Thanks Andy, I've spoken to Future and looks like I should be able to get hold of everything. Really appreciated!