100 Gigabit Ethernet

There is a leading data transmissions technology presently on the process of being unraveled, the so-called 100 Gigabit Ethernet or 10GbE. A plan to start the 802.3ba standard for the Ethernet family was originally raised when the IEEE held an assembly in July 18 2006. The primary goal of the proposition was to exceed the already premium services of Ethernet networking. To date, the known Ethernet application considered to be fastest with its speed rate of 10 gigabytes per second is the 10 gigabit Ethernet (10GbE). An upgrade of such operation up to ten times is strongly hoped for the 100GigE.

After more than a year since it was originally brought up, the project was officially started in December 2007. A special committee called the P802.ba Task Force was instructed to work on the project. The project consists of releasing in both speeds of 40 and 100 gigabytes per second. If done successful, it will be IEEE’s first ever release of two speed ratings under just a single standard. With this release, the institute aspires to provide their services for both large (100GbE) and small (4GbE) networking needs.

Although the 100 gigabit Ethernet is not yet expected to be released until around June 2010, some of its certain features have already been known. And by means of constant draft releases by the aforementioned task force, the growth of the project is continuously observed. In fact, as of February of 2010, there have been ten draft versions produced.Since 2008, there are already ten working versions published. The 100GbE was tested to be able to identify with different physical layer (PHY) standards by the means of various attachable modules. Modules and connectors are divided based on their performance in different distances. The CFP MSA, for instance, could be adopted up to more than a hundred meters. On the other hand, modules like QSFP and CXP, are those that are perfect for shorter distances. In terms of the circuit board particulars, the 100gbE is also known to be able to work on technologies of Single Mode and OM3 Multi Mode Optical Fiber (SMF and MMF), copper assemblies and backplane.

Presently, the 100GbE technology is not yet solidified. But, there are news about certain electronics companies and establishments working on with the available modules for testing and public purchase. Then again, there are already word coming out about some electrical and electronics inclined institutions that started sales and tests on latest module versions.  Based on the advances of the development of the project, it is safe to anticipate that not too long from now, 100GbE will definitely be a permanent part of our vocabulary. When thinking about how much the 10gbE technology marked our networking standards with high efficiency, it is only expected that the new 100 gigabit Ethernet will raise the bar higher.

Written by Jamie, also checkout 40 Gigabit Ethernet.