Ethernet protocols with operating speeds of 40 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s are closer after a vote last week by a committee of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).
On Nov. 20th the IEEE 802 Executive Committee approved forwarding the draft of the next higher speed Ethernet standard for Sponsor balloting, the final of two stages of balloting. The sponsor balloting phase will commence this month. “Once the Sponsor ballot has been completed, the draft standard will be submitted for approval by the IEEE-SA Standards Board as an IEEE standard,” John D'Ambrosia, Chair of the IEEE P802.3ba Task Force, said in a news release.
The project aims to extend the existing IEEE 802.3 Ethernet protocol to operating speeds of 40 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s to provide a significant increase in bandwidth for carriers and service providers.
A related standard, the International Telecommunication Union's Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) Recommendation G.709 for optical transport networks is being revised to support transport of 40 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s Ethernet over the OTN and is on track for approval by the end of 2009. IEEE and ITU-T have formed a liaison relationship in the development of these standards to speed their development.
For more information on the IEEE P802.3ba 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s Ethernet Task Force, see http://www.ieee802.org/3/ba/