The Ethernet Alliance, a global consortium dedicated to the advancement of Ethernet technologies, has released its 2024 Ethernet Roadmap.
The roadmap details the various Ethernet speeds and application spaces, including automotive, enterprise, service providers, automation and cloud providers. New to the 2024 edition are artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, highlighting their impact on the evolution of Ethernet.
“The Roadmap features updates on nomenclature and speeds supported, specifically the 800G solutions on the market and introduction of 1.6Terabit optical solutions,” David J. Rodgers, Events and Conferences Committee Chair, Ethernet Alliance told SDxCentral. “It also now addresses one of today’s most pressing issues – sustainability.”
It's about time that time-sensitive networking is coming to EthernetThe 2024 Ethernet Roadmap showcases the widespread adoption of Ethernet across various sectors.
In the automotive industry, Ethernet has become a key enabler for in-vehicle connectivity, supporting systems such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), infotainment and telematics. Enterprises and campus networks continue to rely heavily on Ethernet, with BASE-T connectivity dominating the LANs and multi-mode and single-mode fiber being used in larger buildings and campuses.
One of the newer technologies that will improve Ethernet is Time–Sensitive Networking (TSN). In Rodgers' view TSN is one of the biggest protocol enhancements for Ethernet.
“It’s the method Ethernet will use to ensure timely, accurate coordination of products and applications needing a clock,” Rodgers explained.
He noted that TSN helps to facilitate many applications to use Ethernet, including automotive and industrial use cases.
AI and ML: Driving Ethernet's evolutionWork is also ongoing via multiple groups and initiatives to advance Ethernet to meet the needs of AI workloads.
Among the efforts is the Ultra Ethernet Consortium (UEC) which got its start in July 2023. Rodgers said that the good work being done by the UEC and other groups leverages the work of IEEE standards, therefore, the Ethernet Alliance’s Ethernet Roadmap will likely reflect any changes brought about in these spaces, as appropriate.
He added that the initiatives around Linear Pluggable Optics (LPO) and Linear Receive Optics (LRO) modules are a prime example of how Ethernet Alliance members are helping to advance new technologies, and which will be presented in upcoming Ethernet Roadmap releases.
New interfaces and faster speeds powering Ethernet forwardThe 2024 Ethernet Roadmap provides an overview of the latest Ethernet interfaces and nomenclature, covering backplane, twinax cable, twisted pair, multi-mode fiber (MMF), and single-mode fiber (SMF) across various speeds and distances.
The roadmap also illustrates the evolution of Ethernet speeds, from the humble beginnings of 10 Megabits per second to the upcoming 1.6 Terabits per second showcasing the exponential growth in link speeds over the years.
Rodgers noted that 200 Gigabit (G) per lane Ethernet is the latest standard of interest for higher speed transports. However, he added that Power over Ethernet (PoE), Automotive and the Single–Pair initiatives are also attracting increased interest across the Ethernet ecosystem. The 200G efforts are particularly important as they help to underpin the fastest aggregate bandwidth specification for 1.6 Terabit Ethernet (ET).
“Yes, 1.6TE is real, the IEEE 802.3dj/dk task groups are buttoning up the 200G/Lane specifications, and test tools organizations and interconnect vendors are already releasing market leading products in advance of specification ratification,” he said. “We are entering the Terabit Ethernet era, and we couldn’t be more excited about it.”