The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) announced expanded interoperability testing and support for 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet (40G/100G) including 25Gb/s serial-lanes, Power over Ethernet (PoE), Backplane Ethernet and Automotive Ethernet. This activity is taking place within several of the UNH-IOL’s consortia and collaborative testing programs.
Some highlights:
- The Consortium has received its first 100G products for testing. To better support its member community, over the past six months the Consortium has added twelve new Ethernet test suites; in particular, Physical Layer (PHY) electrical testing for hosts, modules and cables covering IEEE clauses 83, 85, 86, 92 and 93 of the 802.3 standard.
- The UNH-IOL is working closely with test and measurement manufacturers to upgrade its test equipment for 25Gb/s Ethernet solutions. This testing will focus on IEEE 802.3 clauses 92 and 93, which are designed for Backplane and twin-axial based implementations. Future testing will target chip-to-chip and chip-to-module applications, both of which are described in the upcoming IEEE Std 802.3bm Ethernet standard.
- The UNH-IOL is collaborating with the Ethernet Alliance on a plugfest slated for 2015 targeting 40GbE and 100GbE technologies.
- In partnership with the Ethernet Alliance, the UNH-IOL Power over Ethernet (PoE) Consortium will facilitate a plugfest focused on IEEE 802.3af and 802.3at, standards relevant to IP cameras, wireless access points, automation, and other applications.
- The Power over Ethernet plugfest will test participants’ devices to the respective IEEE 802.3 PoE specifications, which distinguishes IEEE 802.3-based devices from other non-standards based PoE solutions.
- Testing activity surrounding 10G Backplane Ethernet, or 10BASE-KR, is also on the rise. Of special interest is channel training and channel modeling, as several of the 40G standards are implemented using four lanes of backplane-based 10G.
- From June 2013 to June 2014, membership in the UNH-IOL Backplane Ethernet Consortium grew nearly three-fold.
- The UNH-IOL Automotive Ethernet Consortium is now open to car manufacturers and parts suppliers worldwide.
“Interoperability has been a defining feature of Ethernet since its start forty-one years ago,” said UNH-IOL Senior Manager, Ethernet Technologies, Jeff Lapak. “From our first testing of Ethernet technology in 1988 to our current work in 40G/100G, PoE, Automotive and other areas of Ethernet, member companies have turned to us for reliable interoperability results to build consumer confidence and support their go-to-market strategies.”
