The Rise of Distributed Forwarding: How Modern Routers and AI Fabrics Handle Massive Workloads
Distributed forwarding architectures are the backbone of modern networks, driving scalability, resilience, and performance. According to a detailed analysis from Shishio Tsuchiya at APNIC, these architectures are not only dominating traditional router designs but are also shaping next-generation AI data center fabrics like Broadcom’s Jericho3 and Ultra Ethernet.
Redefining Router Design: The Data Plane Evolution
The rise of distributed forwarding marks a shift from centralized network management to a decentralized approach, where each line card independently processes packets locally. Routers today utilize a dual-database architecture: the Routing Information Base (RIB), built using protocols like BGP or OSPF, and the Forwarding Information Base (FIB), which directs real-time packet flows. By distributing the FIB to multiple line cards, networks eliminate bottlenecks, reduce latency, and enhance scalability.
Broadcom’s DNX series exemplifies this architectural shift. For instance, its Jericho chips segment packets into fixed-size cells for transport, enabling consistent performance regardless of port count or chassis size. Internal components such as the Ramon fabric chip further optimize packet scheduling by ensuring seamless data flow across ingress and egress pipelines. These capabilities make distributed architectures ideal for mission-critical networks.
AI Datacenters Push the Limits of Network Design
As AI workloads grow exponentially, traditional centralized networks struggle to handle the demands of hyper-scale environments. AI data centers, supporting thousands or even millions of accelerators like GPUs and TPUs, now rely on distributed designs to ensure efficiency. Technologies like Ultra Ethernet integrate advanced traffic management systems such as Network Signal Congestion Control (NSCC) and Credit-Based Flow Control (CBFC) to prevent congestion and maintain high throughput across interconnected nodes.
Meanwhile, Ethernet-based Clos architectures, used in many data centers, provide a scalable alternative by distributing routing decisions across the network. This ensures local fail-over capabilities, such as immediate rerouting during a port failure, which prevents downstream disruptions. Broadcom’s Jericho3 AI Ethernet Fabric exemplifies this approach, allowing networks to scale without sacrificing resiliency or performance.
A Market Shift Towards Decentralized Architectures
Industry experts see this evolution as a necessary response to growing data demands in telecom and enterprise IT. Distributed data planes, originally confined to traditional routers, now underpin cloud-driven systems like OpenFlow-based networks and disaggregated backbones. Solutions such as Arista’s Distributed Etherlink Switch showcase the hybrid potential of combining centralized control planes with decentralized forwarding, creating robust systems capable of seamless failover and intelligent scheduling.
Moreover, these innovations are not confined to AI use cases. Telecom backhaul systems, enterprise networks, and even public cloud providers are adopting distributed architectures to drive efficiency at scale. The global shift highlights how resilient designs can prepare networks for 5G, IoT, and AI-driven growth.
Future Outlook
With distributed networks becoming the new standard, the future of Ethernet and AI-focused architectures lies in the intersection of software-defined innovations and hardware ingenuity. Solutions like Broadcom’s Ultra Ethernet, which supports end-to-end traffic scheduling for up to one million accelerators, hint at the transformative potential of decentralization. From telecom operators to hyperscalers, the demand for high-performance, fault-tolerant networks will only increase.
The question now is not whether distributed forwarding will dominate—it already has—but how these architectures will evolve to support even more demanding workloads. What will the next generation of AI fabric designs look like, and how will they redefine the future of networking?
Read the full analysis by Shishio Tsuchiya and watch his presentation on APNIC’s blog.
