A new IEEE 802.3TM Ethernet Bandwidth Assessment Ad Hoc group has been formed to study the future bandwidth needs of Ethernet wireline applications across multiple industries, which will assist future development activities of Ethernet standards. 
At issue is whether industry standardization efforts should next be focused on 400G, 1 Terabit or other high-speed rates. Most recently, the IEEE pursued and ratified two high-speed Ethernet tracks at once: 802.3ba 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps Ethernet. The new group seeks to understand whether industry demands will require a similar approach to even higher speeds, or whether a target can be set to a single speed.
“We are driving a global, industry-wide assessment now of the needs of the people who are ultimately going to use the next generation of Ethernet wireline standards,” said John D’Ambrosia, chair of the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Bandwidth Assessment Ad Hoc and chief Ethernet evangelist, CTO office, Force10 Networks. “The IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Bandwidth Assessment Ad Hoc will give future development activities extremely valuable information in a useful format, streamline their early stages of work and enable them to hit the ground running instead of crawling.”
The IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Bandwidth Assessment Ad Hoc invites contributions from individuals across all industries as it gathers information and—with the IEEE 802.3 Working Group’s approval—produces an assessment of its findings that will be referencable for future standards-development efforts. The IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Bandwidth Assessment Ad Hoc seeks any data related to Ethernet bandwidth trends of past, present or future, to help ensure that the future needs for Ethernet wireline speeds are understood.http://www.ieee.orghttp://www.ieee802.org/3/ad_hoc/bwa/index.html
