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Here Come the End Users

By Ethernet Alliance •

 

The Ethernet Alliance is proud to bring a cadre of end users together at the upcoming End Users Speak! Technology Exploration Forum (TEF).  While past TEFs were mainly deep dives into emerging technologies, this TEF – the 5th – has a different perspective as it seeks to gather input regarding the needs from the end-user community.  This TEF is a bridge to people who are deploying the technology today and planning for the future. 

Leveraging their years of contacts, Manoj Wadekar of QLogic and John D’Ambrosia of Dell brought together a variety of end users to talk about their Ethernet needs now and in the future.  From those individuals interested in the physical layers to those interested in protocols.  From carriers to data centers, these individuals represent a diverse array of applications and perspectives that are brought together in one event.

The end users will talk in three panels and four keynotes described below:

  1. Ethernet in Future Data Centers – Ramanujam Rao of Nationwide Insurance, Fred Hartley of Chevron and Matt Estes of Walt Disney – moderated by Robert Hays of Intel
  2. Ethernet and the Heart of the Internet – Martin Pels of AMS-IX, Shamim Akhtar of Comcast, Jay Behrens of Frontier Communications – hosted by Brad Smith of Lightcounting
  3. Keynote of Jeremy Stinson of My Yearbook
  4. The Role of Power in Networks – Bruce Nordman of Lawrence Berkely National Laboratories, Una Song of the Environmental Protection Agency and Bob Felderman of Google – moderated by Mike Bennet of LBNL
  5. Keynote by Parantap Lahiri of Microsoft
  6. Broadcast’s Bandwidth Demands by Todd Roth of Harris
  7. The IEEE and Ethernet’s Future – Paul Nikolich – YAS Broadband Ventures and Chair of IEEE 802

The importance of this event and the potential it offers goes beyond the speakers.  Some of the speakers have already written Q&A about their Ethernet needs and the results can be found here: http://ethernetalliance.org/blog/

In the Q&A, Paul Nikolich wrote:

Other opportunities include expanding Ethernet into automotive applications.  The global automotive industry has begun to deploy Ethernet into vehicles. Application examples include vehicle control (brakes, suspension, transmission, ECU, etc.) and infotainment. 

Also, consider moving beyond today’s RJ-45 connector common to networking.  Smaller Ethernet connections for handheld consumer devices, such as mobile telephones, could open up a new world of applications.  Imagine how these worlds could collide.  People could connect their mobile phones to their car’s network to gain access to all the automobiles resources, and at the same time be recharging their phone’s battery using Power-over-Ethernet.  The car could even become part of someone’s business network, too.

Michael Bennett wrote:

A conservative estimate that was made said that about $450 million a year in energy savings could be achieved once the market was completely saturated with 802.3az (Energy Efficient Ethernet) devices. We won’t know how close the forecast is for years to come.

From power consumption to new applications like Ethernet in automobiles, the End Users Speak! TEF will spend the day exploring the needs of Ethernet.  We hope that you can make the event and learn even more by talking to these end users.  Sign up for this rare and intimate opportunity at:

http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e5fpnzr7fab7a9a2&llr=iejgf4bab

While supporting existing and developing Ethernet standards is an important part of the Ethernet Alliance’s mission, so is supporting consensus building within the industry.  Take advantage of this great opportunity to come and participate in the discussion regarding the future of Ethernet.  I hope to see you there!

Scott Kipp

President of the Ethernet Alliance