Ethernet Alliance Hails the Arrival of 200G and 400G Ethernet

The Ethernet Alliance, a global consortium dedicated to the continued success and advancement of Ethernet technologies, today commended the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Working Group on the approval of IEEE 802.3bs, Standard for Ethernet Amendment: Media Access Control Parameters, Physical Layers, and Management Parameters for 200 gigabit per second (Gb/s) and 400 Gb/s Operation. The specification of 200 gigabit Ethernet (200GbE) and 400 gigabit Ethernet (400GbE) operation across various interconnects will help satisfy mounting bandwidth demands from cloud-scale data centers, internet exchanges, co-location services, service provider networks, and other bandwidth intensive application spaces, while delivering better economies of scale and lower cost-per-port performance.

"IEEE 802.3bs represents a transformational moment in the move to next generation of networks. The delivery of 200G and 400G is arriving just in time to meet growing needs for reliable, high-speed connectivity from a diverse array of applications and markets," said John D'Ambrosia, chairman, Ethernet Alliance; and senior principal engineer, Huawei. "The exceptional effort resulting in the completion of this standard is only the start of the industry's investment in the networks of tomorrow. We've laid a firm foundation for 200G and 400G with our early interoperability demonstrations and plugfests, but it's time to kick things into high gear. The real work of testing and verifying multivendor interoperability begins now, and the Ethernet Alliance is ready. We look forward to building on past successes, and helping accelerate 200G and 400G Ethernet's rollout and adoption."

In March 2017, the Ethernet Alliance successfully demonstrated 400GbE during the Optical Society's optical networking and communications conference and expo, OFC 2017, as highlighted in an accompanying video. In keeping with its leadership role in educating the industry, market, and users, and supporting broad Ethernet interoperability, the organization is looking ahead to future interoperability testing events and demonstrations. Key stakeholders like OEMs, component vendors, and interconnect providers looking to get ahead of the 200GbE and 400GbE deployment curves are encouraged to do so by becoming Ethernet Alliance members and participating in upcoming events focused on multivendor interoperability.

For more information about the Ethernet Alliance, please visit http://www.ethernetalliance.org.