Ethernet Alliance Applauds Successful Completion of IEEE 802.3bz

Newly ratified standard extends value of existing infrastructure investment by opening seamless upgrade path for more than 70 billion meters of Cat5e / Cat6 cabling sold

BEAVERTON, OR, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 – The Ethernet Alliance, a global consortium dedicated to the continued success and advancement of Ethernet technologies, today hailed the ratification of IEEE 802.3bz™, Standard for Ethernet Amendment: Media Access Control Parameters, Physical Layers and Management Parameters for 2.5 Gb/s and 5 Gb/s Operation. Enabling access layer bandwidth to evolve incrementally beyond 1 Gigabit per second (Gb/s), the new standard will help address emerging needs in a variety of settings and applications, including enterprise, wireless networks, and more.

“End user data needs – both wired and wireless – are continuing to grow, especially as more and more users access the network via ever-faster wireless technologies enabled by IEEE 802.11ac™. Now, the 1000BASE-T uplink from the wireless to wired network is no longer sufficient, and users are searching for ways to tap into higher data rates without having to overhaul the 70 billion meters of Cat5e / Cat6 wiring already sold,” said David Chalupsky, board of directors, Ethernet Alliance; and principal engineer, Intel Corporation. “IEEE 802.3bz is an elegant solution that not only addresses the demand for faster access to rapidly rising data volumes, but also capitalizes on previous infrastructure investments, thereby extending their life and maximizing value.”

Building upon the success of and laying out an upgrade path for 1000BASE-T, IEEE 802.3bz defines 2.5 Gigabit (2.5G) and 5 Gigabit (5G) BASE-T Ethernet. The standard, which was fast-tracked for development and completed in less than two years from its initial call-for-interest, specifies Ethernet Media Access Control (MAC) parameters, physical layer specifications (PHYs), and management objects for the balanced twisted pair transmission media found in structured cabling. Facilitating up to five times the speed without requiring expensive infrastructure changes, IEEE 802.3bz enables easy, cost-effective scaling of network bandwidth. This innovative enterprise technology addresses an array of needs, including scientific and research computing, content production and editing, industrial design and automation, machine vision, and more.

“IEEE 802.3bz is a valuable addition to Ethernet’s expanding family of standards, and its deployment will enable the faster wireless connections promised by the next generation of wireless access,” said John D’Ambrosia, chairman, Ethernet Alliance; and senior principal engineer, Huawei. “The Ethernet Alliance is excited by the promise and opportunities presented by IEEE 802.3bz. We are committed to validating the industry’s expectation of the multi-vendor interoperability of this standard, as the next generation of what some consider to be the most successful Ethernet project ever.”

Deliberating the future impacts of 2.5G and 5G BASE-T Ethernet will be a focus of discussions during the Ethernet Alliance’s upcoming Technology Exploration Forum (TEF). TEF 2016: The Road to Ethernet 2026 is September 29, 2016, in Santa Clara, Calif. The organization has also announced plans for a joint 2.5G and 5G BASE-T multivendor interoperability plugfest with the NBASE-T Alliance for the week of October 10, 2016 at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) in Durham, NH. Additionally, Mr. Chalupsky, and Ethernet Alliance Board of Directors member, George Zimmerman of CME Consulting explore NBASE-T technologies extensively in their recent Ethernet Alliance white paper, The Spaces of BASE-T. For more information about the Ethernet Alliance, please visit http://www.ethernetalliance.org, follow @EthernetAllianc on Twitter, visit its Facebook page, or join the EA LinkedIn group.

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.