3 ms·

I didn't even bother trying to contact Broadcom. We were aiming for 3-port (2 PHYs, 1 MII) switches, and both Realtek and Marvel do make them (Realtek part is

by fest 12y ago

I didn't even bother trying to contact Broadcom. We were aiming for 3-port (2 PHYs, 1 MII) switches, and both Realtek and Marvel do make them (Realtek part is also available on aliexpress). Designing commercial devices (even for small production runs) based on key part available only in grey market seems to be a slippery road. Unless you live in China and can talk to vendors about previous and potential future availability of the chips ;(

akiselev 12y ago
If you can get someone experienced to handle logistics, it isn't that bad. I know a few companies that routinely turn to grey market parts when st hits the fan for their mass manufactured product supply chains. In my experience, Marvell is one of the worst to work with but their fabricators make a lot of grey market copies of Marvel's chips during off hours. If you can find a reliable source (fabricator who makes chips for Marvell during the day and grey market copies during the graveyard shift), it will usually be pretty reliable.