Ethernet Alliance
Encyclopedia
The Ethernet Alliance was incorporated in the state of California in August 2005 and officially launched in January 2006 as a global non-profit industry consortium to promote and support Ethernet
. The objectives of the organization are to provide an unbiased, industry-based source of educational information; to ensure interoperability among disparate, standards-based components and systems; to support the development of standards that support Ethernet technology; and to bring together the Ethernet industry to collaborate on the future of the technology.
The Ethernet Alliance is a member-driven organization of Ethernet end users, system and component vendors, industry experts, and university and government professionals who are committed to the continued success and expansion of Ethernet.
The Ethernet Alliance works towards its goals by forming and hosting work groups called subcommittees. These subcommittees are focused on efforts around specific standards-based Ethernet initiatives. These standards can be developed in any Ethernet standards body, including but not limited to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE), the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF), the Small Form Factor
(SFF) Committee as well as supporting done by organizations such as the Optical Internetworking Forum
, the Telecommunications Industry Association
(TIA), and the International Organization for Standardization
and International Electrotechnical Commission
(ISO/IEC). These initiatives are identified by members as those specific Ethernet technology areas where work needs to be done to help support the industry’s knowledge, adoption and usage of these technologies.
As of March 2011, the working subcommittees within the Ethernet Alliance included:
There were eighteen founding members of the Ethernet Alliance: 3Com
(now HP), ADC
(now Tyco Electronics
), Agere Systems
(now LSI), Applied Micro Circuits Corporation
(now AppliedMicro), Aquantia, Broadcom
, Force10 Networks
, Foundry Networks
(now Brocade
), Intel, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, Pioneer Corporation
, Quake Technologies (now AppliedMicro), Samsung
, Sun Microsystems
(now Oracle Corporation
), Tehuti Networks, Tyco Electronics
, the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory
(UNH-IOL), and Xilinx
.
These papers are composed by multiple organizations which may range from Ethernet users, vendors, government entities and academia with the objective of providing educational materials with an industry-based perspective. These papers may be based upon the work of the Ethernet Alliance Subcommittees as well as to support the activities inside Ethernet standards bodies. The papers are intended to help buyers and users of Ethernet technologies better understand the status of various Ethernet technologies in the standards process, the interoperability tests that the Ethernet Alliance has tested, the capabilities of these technologies and much more.
In addition to the library, the Ethernet Alliance helps members gain access to industry data through discounted or complimentary entrance to events, holds public demonstrations of various Ethernet technologies at trade shows where those interested in learning more about Ethernet can ask questions face-to-face and hosts Ethernet Alliance sponsored events called Technology Exploration Forums, or TEFs, as well as a program specifically oriented for academic involvement, the Ethernet Alliance University Program, or EAUP.
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
. The objectives of the organization are to provide an unbiased, industry-based source of educational information; to ensure interoperability among disparate, standards-based components and systems; to support the development of standards that support Ethernet technology; and to bring together the Ethernet industry to collaborate on the future of the technology.
The Ethernet Alliance is a member-driven organization of Ethernet end users, system and component vendors, industry experts, and university and government professionals who are committed to the continued success and expansion of Ethernet.
The Ethernet Alliance works towards its goals by forming and hosting work groups called subcommittees. These subcommittees are focused on efforts around specific standards-based Ethernet initiatives. These standards can be developed in any Ethernet standards body, including but not limited to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a non-profit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence...
(IEEE), the Internet Engineering Task Force
Internet Engineering Task Force
The Internet Engineering Task Force develops and promotes Internet standards, cooperating closely with the W3C and ISO/IEC standards bodies and dealing in particular with standards of the TCP/IP and Internet protocol suite...
(IETF), the Small Form Factor
Small form factor
A small form factor is a computer form factor designed to minimize the volume of a desktop computer. For comparison purposes, the size of an SFF case is usually measured in litres. SFFs are available in a variety of sizes and shapes, including shoeboxes, cubes, and book-sized PCs...
(SFF) Committee as well as supporting done by organizations such as the Optical Internetworking Forum
Optical Internetworking Forum
The Optical Internetworking Forum is a non-profit, member-driven organization founded in 1998. It promotes the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services through the creation of Implementation Agreements for optical networking products, network processing...
, the Telecommunications Industry Association
Telecommunications Industry Association
The Telecommunications Industry Association is accredited by the American National Standards Institute to develop voluntary, consensus-based industry standards for a wide variety of ICT products, and currently represents nearly 400 companies...
(TIA), and the International Organization for Standardization
International Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
and International Electrotechnical Commission
International Electrotechnical Commission
The International Electrotechnical Commission is a non-profit, non-governmental international standards organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies – collectively known as "electrotechnology"...
(ISO/IEC). These initiatives are identified by members as those specific Ethernet technology areas where work needs to be done to help support the industry’s knowledge, adoption and usage of these technologies.
As of March 2011, the working subcommittees within the Ethernet Alliance included:
- 10G EPON focuses on the support of IEEE Std. 802.3av-2009 that extended the speed of EPON networks to 10Gb/s.
- 10GBASE-T supports IEEE Std. 802.3an-2006 which defined a specification for running 10 Gigabit Ethernet over twisted-pair copper designated 10GBASE-T.
- Carrier Ethernet helps guide work being done to support the specific, evolving and growing demands of Ethernet from carriers and service providers.
- Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) work is largely based up EEE Std. 802.3az-2010.
- Ethernet in the Data Center focus includes protocols such as Data Center BridgingData center bridgingData center bridging refers to a set of enhancements to Ethernet local area networks for use in data center environments. Specifically, DCB goals are, for selected traffic, to eliminate loss due to queue overflow and to be able to allocate bandwidth on links. Essentially, DCB enables, to some...
(DCB), Fibre Channel over EthernetFibre Channel over EthernetFibre Channel over Ethernet is an encapsulation of Fibre Channel frames over Ethernet networks. This allows Fibre Channel to use 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks while preserving the Fibre Channel protocol...
(FCoE), iSCSIISCSIIn computing, iSCSI , is an abbreviation of Internet Small Computer System Interface, an Internet Protocol -based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities. By carrying SCSI commands over IP networks, iSCSI is used to facilitate data transfers over intranets and to manage...
, RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) and iWARPIWARPThe Internet Wide Area RDMA Protocol is a computer networking protocol for transferring data efficiently.It is sometimes referred to simply as "RDMA", though RDMA is not a feature exclusive to iWARP.-History:...
. - Higher Speed Ethernet (HSE) encompasses all aspects of 40 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s Ethernet largely based up the work of IEEE Std. 802.3ab-2010.
- Next Generation Enterprise Cabling whose goal is to gather and analyze data relative to observed deployment models, applications, and reaches, and then to share that information via a white paper with Ethernet Alliance members and standards bodies.
- Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Power over Ethernet Plus (PoE+) promotes the current capabilities of IEEE802.3at-2009, as well driving consensus with efforts to extend the power delivery and port-level resiliency capabilities of IEEE802.3at in the Ethernet community.
- High Speed (HS) Modular Interconnects helps drive the adoption through demonstrating interoperability of compliant HS Modular Interconnect devices and ports including optical modules and copper cables.
History
In previous Ethernet technology iterations, an alliance was formed to support the adoption of that new technology into the market. The Ethernet Alliance was preceded by the Fast Ethernet Alliance, the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance (GEA), the 10 Gigabit Ethernet Alliance (10 GEA), and the Ethernet in the First Mile Alliance (EFMA). These alliances would dissolve a few years after the completion of the standards effort they supported. Unfortunately, this was often long before the technology would reach volume adoption and there was seldom support for smaller Ethernet standards projects. Brad Booth noticed that upon the dissolution of the 10GEA that there was still a strong desire by the end users and media for information about 10 Gigabit Ethernet and some of the new technology being created for 10 Gigabit Ethernet, primarily 10GBASE-T. He worked with others in the industry and the standards bodies to create an alliance that would exist as long as Ethernet technology existed. The Ethernet Alliance was formed with the goal to support IEEE 802 Ethernet standards, but later expanded its scope to include all standards that rely upon or are dependent upon IEEE 802 Ethernet standards. With the expanded charter and the formation of the HSE and Carrier Ethernet subcommittees, the Road to 100G Alliance merged with the Ethernet Alliance on December 31, 2008.There were eighteen founding members of the Ethernet Alliance: 3Com
3Com
3Com was a pioneering digital electronics manufacturer best known for its computer network infrastructure products. The company was co-founded in 1979 by Robert Metcalfe, Howard Charney, Bruce Borden, and Greg Shaw...
(now HP), ADC
ADC Telecommunications
ADC Telecommunications was a communications company located in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, a southwest suburb of Minneapolis. It was acquired by TE Connectivity in December 2010 and now ceases to exist as a separate entity...
(now Tyco Electronics
Tyco Electronics
TE Connectivity, Ltd., previously known as Tyco Electronics, Ltd., and formerly a segment of Tyco International, is a leading global provider of engineered electronic components, network solutions, undersea telecommunication systems, and specialty products for customers in more than 150 countries...
), Agere Systems
Agere Systems
Agere Systems Inc. was an integrated circuit components company based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Spun out of Lucent Technologies in 2002, Agere was merged into LSI Corporation in 2007....
(now LSI), Applied Micro Circuits Corporation
Applied Micro Circuits Corporation
Applied Micro Circuits Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company designing network and embedded Power Architecture , and server processor ARM , optical transport and storage solutions...
(now AppliedMicro), Aquantia, Broadcom
Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company in the wireless and broadband communication business. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California, USA. Broadcom was founded by a professor-student pair Henry Samueli and Henry T. Nicholas III from the University of California, Los...
, Force10 Networks
Force10
Force10 Networks , is a United States company which develops and markets 10 Gigabit and 100 Gigabit Ethernet switches for computer networking to corporate, educational, and governmental customers. It has offices in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region.In 2011 Dell announced that they...
, Foundry Networks
Foundry Networks
Foundry Networks, Inc. was a networking hardware vendor selling high-end Ethernet switches and routers. The company was founded in 1996 by Bobby R. Johnson, Jr. and was headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA...
(now Brocade
Brocade
Brocade is a class of richly decorative shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in colored silks and with or without gold and silver threads. The name, related to the same root as the word "broccoli," comes from Italian broccato meaning "embossed cloth," originally past participle of the verb broccare...
), Intel, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory conducting unclassified scientific research. It is located on the grounds of the University of California, Berkeley, in the Berkeley Hills above the central campus...
, Pioneer Corporation
Pioneer Corporation
is a multinational corporation that specializes in digital entertainment products, based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. The company was founded in 1938 in Tokyo as a radio and speaker repair shop...
, Quake Technologies (now AppliedMicro), Samsung
Samsung
The Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...
, Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
(now Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
), Tehuti Networks, Tyco Electronics
Tyco Electronics
TE Connectivity, Ltd., previously known as Tyco Electronics, Ltd., and formerly a segment of Tyco International, is a leading global provider of engineered electronic components, network solutions, undersea telecommunication systems, and specialty products for customers in more than 150 countries...
, the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory
University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory
The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory provides independent, broad-based interoperability and standards conformance testing for data, telecommunications and storage networking products and technologies...
(UNH-IOL), and Xilinx
Xilinx
Xilinx, Inc. is a supplier of programmable logic devices. It is known for inventing the field programmable gate array and as the first semiconductor company with a fabless manufacturing model....
.
Educational Resources
The Ethernet Alliance offers a library of white papers, presentations, frequently asked questions and videos that provide comprehensive technical overviews of many different Ethernet technologies. These materials are available on the Ethernet Alliance public website and are available free of charge.These papers are composed by multiple organizations which may range from Ethernet users, vendors, government entities and academia with the objective of providing educational materials with an industry-based perspective. These papers may be based upon the work of the Ethernet Alliance Subcommittees as well as to support the activities inside Ethernet standards bodies. The papers are intended to help buyers and users of Ethernet technologies better understand the status of various Ethernet technologies in the standards process, the interoperability tests that the Ethernet Alliance has tested, the capabilities of these technologies and much more.
In addition to the library, the Ethernet Alliance helps members gain access to industry data through discounted or complimentary entrance to events, holds public demonstrations of various Ethernet technologies at trade shows where those interested in learning more about Ethernet can ask questions face-to-face and hosts Ethernet Alliance sponsored events called Technology Exploration Forums, or TEFs, as well as a program specifically oriented for academic involvement, the Ethernet Alliance University Program, or EAUP.