NEW IEEE
STANDARD ADDS COPPER CABLE INTERFACE TO 10 Gb/s ETHERNET
IEEE
802.3ak ™ Offers Economical Way to Interconnect High-Performance
Ethernet Switches and Server Clusters
Contact:
Bob
Grow, Chair of the 802.3 Working Group
+1 858-391-4622 or bob.grow@ieee.org
or
Karen McCabe, IEEE Senior Marketing Manager
+1 732-562-3824, k.mccabe@ieee.orgk.mccabe@ieee.org
PISCATAWAY,
N.J., 27 February 2004 The IEEE has approved a standard that
adds a copper cable interface to 10 Gb/s Ethernet. Before approval
of this standard, 1 Gb/s was the fastest available Ethernet rate
over copper cabling. The new standard, IEEE 802.3ak™-2004,
provides an economical way for Ethernet switches and server clusters
located within 15 m of each other in equipment rooms and data
centers to be interconnected at 10 Gb/s. The new standard complements
the standards for 10 Gb/s Ethernet fiber optic cable interfaces
approved in 2002.
IEEE 802.3ak,
“Physical Layer and Management Parameters for 10 Gb/s Operation,
Type 10GBASE-CX4,” is based on the 10 Gigabit Attachment
Unit Interface (XAUI) chip-to-chip interface and specifies signals
for transmission over balanced, shielded-copper cabling. Connections
for 10 gigabit Ethernet that require runs of more than 15 m will
be served by 10 Gb/s fiber optic cable under the IEEE 802.3ae™
standard.
“The
availability of 10GBASE-CX4 copper-based interface should accelerate
the deployment of 10 Gb Ethernet,” said Bob Grow, Chair of
the 802.3 Working Group and a Principal Architect at Intel. “10GBASE-CX4
will be an easy addition to 10 Gigabit Ethernet systems because
of its similarity to the XAUI interface.”
According
to Dan Dove, Chair of the 802.3ak Task Force and Principal Engineer,
HP ProCurve Networking Business, the standard seeks to make 10
Gb/s performance more economical. “Cost effectiveness is
critical for technology adoption,” he said. “We reused
portions of IEEE 802.3 and other standards to simplify and lower
the cost of implementation.
“For
instance, 10GBASE-CX4 specifies the same type of connectors and
cables now used with 4X InfiniBand,” said Dove. “It
will allow implementers to incorporate 10GBASE-CX4 capability
directly within highly integrated chips. It also minimizes design,
installation and maintenance costs by preserving IEEE 802.3 network
architecture, management and software features. As a result, we
expect installation costs for copper 10GBASE-CX4 interconnections
to be one-tenth that of comparable 10GBASE-optical solutions.”
IEEE 802.3ak
was sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society.
About the
IEEE Standards Association
The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA), a global standards-setting
body, develops consensus standards through an open process that
brings diverse parts of an industry together. It has a portfolio
of more than 870 completed standards and more than 400 in development.
IEEE-SA promotes the engineering process by creating, developing,
integrating, sharing and applying knowledge about electro- and
information technologies and sciences for the benefit of humanity
and the profession. For further information on IEEE-SA visit:
http://standards.ieee.org/.
About the
IEEE
The IEEE has more than 380,000 members in approximately 150 countries.
Through its members, the organization is a leading authority on
areas ranging from aerospace, computers and telecommunications
to biomedicine, electric power and consumer electronics. The IEEE
produces nearly 30 percent of the world's literature in the electrical
and electronics engineering, computing and control technology
fields. This nonprofit organization also sponsors or cosponsors
more than 300 technical conferences each year. Additional information
about the IEEE can be found at http://www.ieee.org/.
IEEE 802.3ak,
802.3ae and 802.3 are trademarks of the IEEE. All other names
or product names are the trademarks, service marks or registered
trademarks of their respective holders.
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