Ethernet goes farther and faster than ever before thanks to the key to its success: multivendor interoperability
The Ethernet Alliance, a global consortium dedicated to the continued success and advancement of Ethernet technologies, today unveiled details of its latest interactive multivendor demo. Set to go live in booth 134 of the 45th European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC 2019), September 23 – 25, 2019, in Dublin, Ireland, the live display spans technologies from 25 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) to 400GbE. It also points to the coming 800GbE future, while illustrating interoperability’s critical role in making that future a reality.
“Ethernet is bursting through speed barriers at a breakneck pace. With higher speeds and longer reaches, it’s now pushing past its history as an innovative consumer technology into diverse new markets and application spaces like enterprise storage, automotive, and building automation,” said Greg McSorley, president, Ethernet Alliance; and technical business development manager, Amphenol Corp. “The 400GbE era is here but it’s only a stepping stone along the road to 800GbE. The secret to Ethernet’s continued success has always been and will continue to be interoperability. Getting traffic to travel seamlessly from today’s legacy implementations into tomorrow’s high-speed switches and ecosystems comes down to preserving Ethernet’s capacity for multivendor interoperability, which is highlighted in our ECOC 2019 demo.”
Encompassing the latest high-speed Ethernet technologies, the Ethernet Alliance’s live ECOC 2019 multivendor demo includes a broad array of products and solutions, including routers, switches, Active Optical Cables (AOCs) and Direct Attach Cables (DACs), interconnects, and more. With components ranging from 25GbE to 400GbE at lengths of up to 4m in OSFP, QSFP28, and QSFP-DD form factors, the organization’s display showcases Ethernet’s rapid advancement and expansion. Reflecting growing momentum in test and measurement, the demo also includes contributions from leading organizations dedicated to accelerating time-to-market by ensuring compliance with Ethernet specifications.
Representing every aspect of the Ethernet ecosystem, the Ethernet Alliance ECOC 2019 demo includes equipment provided by preeminent Ethernet technology developers and vendors, including Amphenol Corporation (NYSE: APH); Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE: ANET); Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO); CommScope Holding Company, Inc. (NASDAQ: COMM); EXFO, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXFO); TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE: TEL); Tektronix, Inc.; Teledyne LeCroy, Inc. (NYSE: TDY); and Xena Networks, Inc.
Printed copies of the 2019 Ethernet Alliance Ethernet Roadmap will be available at the group’s display in stand 134 on the ECOC 2019 expo floor. It is also available for download at the Ethernet Alliance website.
To follow the latest Ethernet Alliance ECOC 2019 news and events, please follow #EAECOC19 and #EthernetRoadmap on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. For more information about the Ethernet Alliance, please visit http://www.ethernetalliance.org, follow @EthernetAllianc on Twitter, Like its Facebook page, or visit its LinkedIn company page.
“The Ethernet Alliance live demo will once again be demonstrating Ethernet’s wide range of interoperability, flexibility and configurability with links up to 400Gb/s. The demos the Ethernet Alliance puts together are always interesting and enlightening, showcasing Ethernet equipment from multiple vendors across the spectrum of data centers being set up today. Amphenol will be showcasing its latest QSFP-DD and OSFP connectors, cages, and Direct Attach copper Cables. Also this year we will be demonstrating, from of our newest divisions, Amphenol Network Solutions, C2E optical distribution chassis.” – Greg McSorley, standards manager, Amphenol
“Arista is pleased to be part of the Ethernet Alliance demonstrating multi-vendor interoperability with Arista’s 7060X4 and 7280R3 Series, offering our customers a choice of high-density and high-performance 400G systems. Interoperability between industry-standard optics and cables is essential for 400G adoption. Transitioning from 100G to 400G systems enables all of our customers to realize greater network efficiency for video, storage, AI and machine learning applications.” – Christophe Metivier, vice president, manufacturing and platform engineering, Arista Networks
“Cisco is pleased to participate in the Ethernet Alliance’s Interop demo with its Cloud Scale based Nexus 9000 switches to help showcase the maturity of 400G products and their readiness for industry deployment.” – Hardev Singh, Cisco Nexus 9000 product manager
“Together with Ethernet Alliance and collaborating industry partners, EXFO is proud to participate in several exciting interoperability demonstrations at ECOC 2019. We will feature emerging technologies that are quickly moving from lab environments to field deployments. Live demos will showcase: 400G Ethernet traffic using multiple interfaces, including QSFP-DD and OSFP; a 200G multivendor interconnection; and 100G testing featuring the latest optical transceiver technologies.
Each demo is facilitated by our Open Transceiver System (OTS) – a unique, modular system that delivers the capability to swap out transceiver inserts, enabling EXFO test platforms to support both today’s high speed interfaces and tomorrow’s yet undetermined ones. EXFO’s OTS extends the life of test equipment therefore reducing CAPEX and total cost of ownership for our customers.” – Stéphane Chabot, vice president, test and measurement, EXFO
“As a founding principal member of the Ethernet Alliance, TE Connectivity (TE) is proud to participate in the Ethernet Alliance interoperability demonstrations at ECOC 2019. In this year’s demonstrations, we are showcasing our SFP56, QSFP56, OSFP, QSFP-DD and OSFP to QSFP-DD cable assemblies as well as a number of various breakout cable assemblies operating from 50 Gbps up to 400 Gbps. TE’s innovative connectivity products perform at levels that will be essential as Ethernet networks evolve to support the applications of the future.” – Nathan Tracy, technologist and manager of industry standards, TE
“Tektronix is proud to present at the Ethernet Alliance booth at ECOC 2019 its solutions for validating network performance and interoperability. We demonstrate the flexibility of Tek’s measurement solutions in the Ethernet Alliance booth with our high optical bandwidth real-time oscilloscope solution running measurements including TDECQ on patterns or on live traffic signals.
Tektronix oscilloscopes with their high channel density, high throughput, and high sensitivity excel at measurements of 56 GBaudPAM4 signals. High sensitivity and repeatability maximize production yields in the 400GbE and beyond markets.” – Mehmet Aslan, general manager of wideband solutions business unit, Tektronix
“Ethernet growth is unprecedented with equipment manufacturers offering 400GbE switches, 50GbE and 100GbE NICs, and these new speeds are fueling advanced storage applications among other leading-edge use cases.
Ethernet at all speeds and feeds is adapted to new opportunities in industrial automation, broadcast video, and automotive adaptations, as well as the serving the legacy applications and implementations.
The Ethernet Ecosystem participants are keenly aware of the need to ensure interoperability and ‘out of the box’ performance. Teledyne LeCroy’s SierraNet product family fulfills a critical requirement towards achievement of that goal.” – David J. Rodgers, senior product marketing manager, ENET/SAN protocol tools, Teledyne LeCroy
“Being part of the Ethernet Alliance stand at ECOC 2019 in Dublin is an excellent opportunity for Xena to demonstrate how Valkyrie, Xena’s industry-leading 400GE traffic generation and analysis platform, makes it easy to test and measure the speed, features and broad interoperability of the latest generation of PAM4/400GE Ethernet equipment now reaching the market.” – Claus Hoyer, VP engineering, Xena Networks
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. The organization’s plans for 2019 may be found at http://bit.ly/EAEvents-ECOC19.