Gigabit Ethernet Alliance Continues to Meet Milestones as Standard Feature Set Finalized and 1000BASE-T PAR Approved; Industry Support Continues to Grow as Alliance Membership Tops 100

Business Wire, March 17, 1997

CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 17, 1997--The Gigabit Ethernet Alliance today announced that the next milestone in the standards process was met last week during the IEEE 802 Plenary meetings when the feature set of the standard was finalized.

No new features will be added from this point forward. In addition, the Project Authorization Request (PAR) for the 1000BASE-T long-haul copper media was approved. Industry support for the Gigabit Ethernet technology continues to broaden as membership in the Alliance reaches 108.

The second draft of the Gigabit Ethernet standard, 802.3z/D2, was distributed to the full membership of the IEEE 802.3 Working Group during the week of February 24th, for review prior to the meetings, which were held in Irvine, California, the week of March 10th.

The draft incorporates additions and refinements generated by comments made on the first draft. 802.3z/D2 also includes a major addition for management. The new management sections contain updates to portions of the 802.3u, Fast Ethernet, standard to accommodate Gigabit Ethernet1s ten-fold increase in speed.

"The various sub-task groups of 802.3 made significant progress in additions to, and refinements of, the detailed specification of the various physical media options (PHYs) for Gigabit Ethernet," said Bob Grow, spokesperson for the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance.

"The different PHY types specified in the standard support a broad range of distances, including various options optimized for important cost/distance design points. It has become even more clear that the Gigabit Ethernet technology will ultimately provide many added benefits for end users, including cost/distance options, as well as stability."

PHYs incorporated into the standard include: 1000BASE-CX, which will support interconnection of equipment clusters; 1000BASE-SX, which is targeted for horizontal building cabling; and 1000BASE-LX, which will support backbone building cabling and campus interconnections. 1000BASE-CX specifications were modified in the meetings last week with the addition of a new connector type.

In addition, the application for the 1000BASE-T Project Authorization Request (PAR) was approved by the 802.3 Working Group and IEEE 802 Executive committee. That action enables the creation of a new task force, chartered with the development of the 802.3ab standard for a 100-meter Category 5 unshielded twisted pair (UTP) physical interface.

The 1000BASE-T standard, an additional PHY to those defined in the 802.3z draft standard, will provide 1 Gb/s Ethernet over 4-pair Category 5 cabling up to 100 meters. This type of cabling is already commonly deployed in the installed base of thousands of networking sites today.

The 802.3 PHYs leverage existing technology developed for Fibre Channel, both to accelerate the development of the standard, and to improve component availability for Gigabit Ethernet product developers. Following that same philosophy, the 802.3z Task Force adopted basic electrical characteristics for the Gigabit Media Independent Interface (GMII) that are compatible with most Fibre Channel serializer/deserializer (SERDES) chips. The GMII will provide a consistent electrical interface for the development of future Gigabit Ethernet PHYs.

In keeping with the current aggressive schedule for standardization of Gigabit Ethernet, the next meeting of the IEEE 802.3z Task Force will take place in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, from May 14-16, 1997, to continue the work of refining technical details. Between March and July, 1997, the Task Force will work to ensure that the specification is complete and ready for the ballot process.

The IEEE 802.3ab Task Force developing the 1000BASE-T standard has its own document production schedules. Current plans call for a first draft in late 1997.

New Alliance Members

The combined Alliance membership already comprises many of the most prominent companies in the networking, semiconductor and computer industries. With the addition of the new members that joined the Alliance since last month, total membership has climbed to 108 companies.

New members include: Canon Information Systems, Duke Power Company, HolonTech Corporation, ITRI/CCL, Jato Technologies, Netcom Systems, Inc., Network Appliance, Inc., Network General Corporation, NetVision Corporation and Vixel Corporation.

New Alliance Web Site

In order to keep the industry up-to-date about its activities on an ongoing basis, the Alliance has enhanced its Web site to provide even easier access to news, technology updates, and member information.

Additions and enhancements to the site include customizable 3speed links for quick access to specific information, 3Gigabits, a selection of rotating Gigabit Ethernet facts, and the premier edition of the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance online newsletter.

Search engines are also provided, as well as hot links to Alliance member companies and other related sites. You may visit the site at URL: http://www.gigabit-ethernet.org.

About the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance