The Ethernet Alliance, an industry group dedicated to the continued success and expansion of Ethernet technology, today announced that the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 working group has formed the Higher Speed Study Group (HSSG) to evaluate the requirements for the next generation of Ethernet technology.
Current 10GbE technology is being widely deployed in Internet exchanges to provide the capacity to accommodate bandwidth-intensive applications like IPTV and personalized content. Additionally, early use of 10GbE was traditionally in the switch-to-switch interconnect market. The industry is now seeing microprocessors driving higher bandwidth requirements in servers, and 10GbE is meeting that demand. With 10GbE taking its place within the network ecosystem, the industry is now turning its attention to what will follow to aggregate 10GbE pipes.
“This is an exciting time for the Ethernet industry as there are a number of activities helping to drive the volume adoption of 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE). IEEE 802.3an, also known as 10GBASE-T, was ratified June 8, 2006. This standard enables a low cost, ease-of-use, copper cabling solution for the transmission of 10GbE. Additionally, SFF-8431, also known as 10GbE SFP+ (small form factor pluggable) optics, offers lower cost and reduced power consumption. SFF-8431 is expected to be ratified by the end of 2006,” said Brad Booth, president of the Ethernet Alliance and director of advanced products for Quake Technologies.
