MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Ethernet Alliance has today announced the summary results of the Higher Speed Ethernet (HSE) subcommittee interoperability plugfest for products designed to support IEEE Std. 802.3baTM-2010, 40 and 100 Gbps Ethernet. Fourteen Ethernet Alliance members including Berk-Tek Systems (a Nexans Company), Broadcom, Brocade, Extreme Networks, Ixia, JDSU, Juniper Networks, Mellanox Technologies, Opnext, Panduit, Siemon, Spirent Communications, TE Connectivity (TE – formerly Tyco Electronics) and Volex Group plc gathered at the UNH-IOL, the Interoperability Lab at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire during the week of April 18th to verify the interoperability of test equipment, switches, routers, NICs, transceivers and cabling supporting 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet. Substantial success was achieved for interoperability between transceivers, cables and systems tested.
This is the second such interoperability event hosted by the Ethernet Alliance; the first event was held in September of 2010. Compared to that event, many more system vendors participated – demonstrating system level interoperability. The test results will give service providers an increased level of comfort knowing that there will be a wide availability of HSE products as well as a greater breadth of vendor choices. Plugfest participants were able to effectively demonstrate the interoperability of their products. Cables tested met or exceeded IEEE Std. 802.3ba, and bit error ratio tests (BERT) were used in the transceiver and cable tests to verify link-level error-free operation within the requirements of IEEE Std. 802.3ba. Basic layer 3 traffic was used to verify system-level error-free operation.
Ixia, JDSU, and Spirent provided 40 and 100 Gbps test ports, Broadcom, Brocade, Extreme Networks, and Juniper Networks provided 40 and 100 Gbps switch and router ports, and Mellanox provided 40 Gbps NICs. Transceivers from Opnext, TE and one other optics vendor were included in the testing. Copper and optical cables, including OM3 and OM4 multimode fiber and direct attached copper, passive and active cable assemblies along with direct attach active optical cable assemblies were contributed by Berk-Tek, Panduit and Siemon.
“This interoperability event demonstrates that the HSE ecosystem is continuing to mature,” said David Schneider, marketing chair of the Ethernet Alliance’s Higher Speed Ethernet subcommittee. “The fact that many systems were able to interoperate indicates that widespread deployment will soon be a reality.”
“The ratification of the IEEE Std 802.3baTM-2010 standard was a step in the development of the 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet ecosystem,” said John D’Ambrosia, who chaired the IEEE P802.3ba 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s Ethernet Task Force, and Chief Ethernet Evangelist of Force10 Network’s CTO Office. “As these Ethernet Alliance events demonstrate, the technology behind the 40Gb/s and 100 Gb/s Ethernet standard advances Ethernet’s long legacy of interoperability and robustness.”
Additional information on the interoperability demonstration will be available in a white paper that will be made available on the Ethernet Alliance Web site beginning on June 13 at http://ethernetalliance.org/library/higher_speed_ethernet_40gbs_and_100bs_ethernet/white_papers.
About the Ethernet Alliance
The Ethernet Alliance is a global consortium that includes system and component vendors, industry experts and university and government professionals who are committed to the continued success and expansion of Ethernet technology. The Ethernet Alliance takes Ethernet standards to market by supporting activities that span from incubation of new Ethernet technologies to interoperability demonstrations and education.
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