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The "Greater than 10Gbps Copper Ethernet" workshop
was co-sponsored by the Nexans Data Communications
Competence Center and the Pennsylvania State University
CICTR (Center for Information and Communication
Technology Research). Held from August 10-12,
2009, in State College, Pennsylvania, the event
brought together vendors from the cable, connector and
semiconductor industries to voice support for a
twisted-pair solution for Ethernet speeds beyond
10Gbps.
The university atmosphere provided a setting amenable
to discussions from both an academic and industrial
perspective. End users from Lehigh Unviersity, Johns
Hopkins University and the Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory added yet another point of view that was
helpful to expand the discussion. Presentations and
panel discussions objectively conveyed the value of
twisted-pair cable solutions in the data center and
enterprise networks.
The workshop was a great success because industry
leaders were brought together to discuss issues and
concerns, and there were convincing arguments from the
participants to have an Ethernet
Committee Call-For-Interest (CFI) for a
40GBASE-T solution in 2010.
The participants included representatives from
many industry-leading companies from North America,
Europe and Asia, including:
- Cable manufacturers: Leoni, LS
Cable, Nexans
- Chip manufacturers: Broadcom,
Solarflare
- Connector manufacturers: Bel
Stewart, Meritek, Siemon, Tyco
- System providers: Cisco, Force10
Networks
Some key observations:
- Copper solutions at >10G could include many
possible solutions
- Data center architecture will play a vital role in
next generation networks. Jeff Cain, of Cisco systems,
suggested that rack-centric, modular designs with
emphasis on top-of-rach switching could change current
thinking.
- The concept of a unified I/O, spawning the
prospect of "any machine, anywhere, anytime" was
introduced.
- The PHY vs. Channel, aka "Chicken or Egg" debate,
continues...with chip vendors saying the cable channel
needs to be established first, while the cable
manufacturers say the PHYs need to be developed first.
Workshop attendees agreed that concurrent development
was the best plan.
- Based on his market analysis and model,
independent consultant Alan Flatman (LAN Technologies)
suggested that the call for interest (CFI) for
40GBASE-T should be initiated in IEEE during Q2 of
2010.
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