IEEE 802.3 Group Looks Netxt Ethernet Speed -- Road Towards 10 Tbps by 2020?

A new IEEE 802.3 Industry Connections Higher Speed Ethernet Consensus group has been formed to gather industry input toward the development of the next speed of Ethernet. The group is expected to include users and producers of systems and components for telecommunications carriers, Internet exchanges, financial markets, data centers, multiple system operators (MSOs) networking systems, high-performance computing, network storage and servers and other individuals interested in future IEEE 802.3 Ethernet wireline standards.


In July, the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Working Group published an Ethernet Bandwidth Assessment report that found a continuing exponential clim in global bandwidth requirements across multiple application spaces. The report forecasts that, if current trends continue, networks will need to support capacity requirements of 1 terabit per second in 2015 and 10 terabit per second by 2020. This reflects capacity requirements, not line rates. The report considered input was collected from a variety of application spaces (servers, data center networks, high-performance computing, financial markets, carrier and cable operators, Internet exchanges, the scientific community, etc.) and from different geographic regions. The report confirms that growth is being driven across multiple application spaces and markets by simultaneous increases in users, access methodologies, access rates and services (such as video on demand and social media).

"We continue to seek to streamline the early stages of work of potential future IEEE 802.3 Ethernet wireline standards-development activities,� said John D�Ambrosia, chair of the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Bandwidth Assessment Ad Hoc and IEEE 802.3 Industry Connections Higher Speed Ethernet Consensus group and chief Ethernet evangelist, CTO office, Dell. �The information gathered by the Bandwidth Assessment Ad Hoc demonstrates the ongoing, exponential bandwidth growth that is happening in varying application spaces on a global nature. The launch of the IEEE 802.3 Industry Connections Higher Speed Ethernet Consensus group will facilitate an open forum to explore the start beyond 100Gb/s Ethernet."

Added Paul Nikolich, chair of the IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee: "The IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Bandwidth Assessment report documents a cross-industry understanding of the diverse bandwidth needs of various Ethernet applications. By doing so, it provides a critical head start for potential future development activities of IEEE 802 Ethernet standards, as the time needed to accumulate this knowledge is significant. The report and now the work of the IEEE 802.3 Industry Connections Higher Speed Ethernet Consensus group ultimately will help more quickly yield more meaningful IEEE 802.3 Ethernet wireline standards."
http://www.ieee802.org/3/ad_hoc/hse/index.htmlhttp://www.ieee802.org/3/ad_hoc/bwa/BWA_Report.pdf