The IEEE and the IEEE Standards Association have launched a study group tasked with exploring creation of a project within the 802.3 Working Group that would standardize capabilities beyond the 400 Gbps rate that is the maximum the organization oversees today.
The rationale for creating the 802.3 Beyond 400Gb/s Ethernet Study Group is laid out in the Ethernet Bandwidth Assessment report, which was released in April. It points to demand from video, hyperscale data centers, 5G and Wi-Fi.
The trend lines point to more users, faster access speeds, more services, more devices and greater differences between average and peak demand. The press release announcing the study group points out that those findings were before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has “magnified” those trends.
The study group will take advantage of expertise worldwide as it defines a project for the broader working group. The first meeting is slated for the 802.3 Ethernet Working Group’s interim session during the week of January 18, 2021.
Each step in raising the ceiling on standardization encompasses issues, challenges and questions that are qualitative as well quantitative in nature.
“The path to beyond 400 Gb/s Ethernet exists, but there are a host of options and physical challenges that will need to be considered to take the next leap in speed rate for Ethernet,” John D’Ambrosia, a Distinguished Engineer for Futurewei Technologies, said in a press release. “Both the historical trend lines for Ethernet bandwidth demand and everything the industry understands today about its future needs and technology growth curves indicate that the time to take the next step is now, in order to satisfy humanity’s needs and desires for connectivity.”