10 Gigabit Ethernet

10 Gigabit Ethernet is the most recent (as of 2002) and fastest of the Ethernet standards.

IEEE 802.3ae defines a version of Ethernet with a nominal data rate of 10 Gbit/s, ten times faster than Gigabit Ethernet.

The new 10 gigabit ethernet standard encompasses seven different media types for LAN, MAN and WAN. It is currently specified by a supplementary standard, IEEE 802.3ae, and will be incorporated into a future revision of the IEEE 802.3 standard.

• 10GBASE-SR -- designed to support short distances over deployed multi-mode fiber cabling, it has a range of between 26m and 82m depending on cable type. It also supports 300m operation over a new 2000MHz.km multi-mode fiber.
• 10GBASE-LX4 -- uses wavelength division multiplexing to support ranges of between 240m and 300m over deployed multi-mode cabling. Also supports 10km over single-mode fiber.
• 10GBASE-LR and 10GBASE-ER -- these standards support 10km and 40km respecively over single-mode fiber.
• 10GBASE-SW, 10GBASE-LW and 10GBASE-EW. These varieties use the WAN PHY, designed to interoperate with OC-192 / STM-64 SONET/SDH equipment. They correspond at the physical layer to 10GBASE-SR, 10GBASE-LR and 10GBASE-ER respecively, and hence use the same types of fiber and support the same distances. (There is no WAN PHY standard corresponding to 10GBASE-LX4.)

Unlike earlier Ethernet systems, 10 Gigabit Ethernet is based entirely on the use of optical fibre connections. Additionally, this developing standard is moving away from local area network design, with broadcasting to all nodes, towards a system which includes some elements of wide area routing. It is claimed that this system has high compatibility with earlier Ethernet and IEEE 802 networks.

10 gigabit Ethernet is very new, and it remains to be seen which of the standards will gain commercial acceptance.

External links

• http://www.10gea.org/
• http://www.siemon.com/us/10Gip - manufacters structured cabling system for 10 gigabit Ethernet business applications