BEAVERTON, OR — The Ethernet Alliance, a global consortium dedicated to the continued success and advancement of Ethernet technologies, has released the 2015 Ethernet Roadmap. The first-ever publicly available industry roadmap will outline the ongoing development and evolution of Ethernet through the end of the decade. The illustrated roadmap and white paper were unveiled during the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition (OFC 2015) in Los Angeles, CA.
Ethernet, the world’s most widely adopted networking technology, saw a period of rapid change and diversification in 2014. Four new speeds — 2.5 Gigabit per second (Gb/s); 5 Gb/s; 25 Gb/s; and 400 Gb/s Ethernet — are currently in development by the IEEE, while the industry is also considering 50Gb/s and 200 Gb/s Ethernet. While seemingly chaotic, this emerging diversification is leading to a new, different and exciting future for Ethernet. The Ethernet Alliance developed the 2015 Ethernet Roadmap to bring clarity to this mix of speeds, application spaces and market drivers in the near-term, as well as explore speeds beyond 2020 which could be 800 Gb/s; 1 Terabyte per second (Tb/s); 1.6 Tb/s; 6.4 Tb/s; and 10 Tb/s Ethernet.
“Ethernet is constantly evolving and diversifying into new markets and application spaces. Such expansion is successful when there is greater visibility about a technology’s future. The 2015 Ethernet Roadmap will allow the industry to peer into Ethernet’s future,” said Scott Kipp, president, Ethernet Alliance; and principal technologist, Brocade. “The roadmap, developed by our members, will help users understand where Ethernet is going. Such insight will heighten confidence to the market that Ethernet has a clear path forward and help further drive adoption of Ethernet solutions.”
The 2015 Ethernet Roadmap will provide practical guidance to the development of Ethernet, and will offer an in-depth look at Ethernet’s accelerating evolution and expansion in four key areas: consumer and residential; enterprise and campus; hyperscale data centers; and service providers. The roadmap provides visibility into the underlying technologies, including electrical and optical infrastructures. It further highlights the different area’s rate progressions, while emphasizing the changing dynamics and challenges within the Ethernet ecosystem, which includes support for wireless technologies such as 802.11ac.
“Today’s Ethernet landscape is vastly different than in years past. Ethernet’s growing diversification is happening from within, as people seek to bring the benefits of Ethernet to a multitude of different market spaces. It’s no longer being driven by speed increases in just factors of 10,” said John D’Ambrosia, chairman, Ethernet Alliance, and chief Ethernet evangelist, Dell. “We’re now at an inflection point where charting a clear course for Ethernet’s future has become an imperative. This roadmap will help impart needed clarity by detailing the coming wave of future Ethernet speeds and broadening range of application spaces, while illustrating how standards innovation continues to address emerging market demands.”
Copies of the map are available digitally at www.ethernetalliance.org/roadmap.
For more information about the Ethernet Alliance, please visit http://www.ethernetalliance.org, 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.
