Targeting the Data Center – 100Gb/s Per Optical Lambda

There are times when I REALLY love this job.

I am so excited to announce that the Ethernet Alliance and OIDA are partnering to host a workshop targeting the development of 100 Gb/s per optical lambda for the data center on June 12 and 13.  The event will be collocated with the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO) that will be held in San Jose, on June 8 – June 13, 2014.  This workshop will bring together experts and key players in the Ethernet and optics industries to discuss and explore how we can move the industry forward.

As we explore this issue, we should expect a lot of technical debates that will discuss modulation formats, coding gains, power, latency, and channel budgets and impairments.  However, at the Ethernet Alliance’s  Technology Exploration Forum 2013- The Future of Ethernet, I challenged a panel of distinguished individuals on this topic, and inquired whether there were any doubts that this 100Gb/s per lambda approach would eventually exist.  Not a single member of the panel expressed any doubts that 100GbE over a single optical lambda would eventually come to exist. 

Now, I have to admit, this issue is somewhat personal to me.  I was the chair of the IEEE 802.3 task force that developed 100GbE, as well as the chair of the current IEEE 802.3 400GbE Study Group.   I am personally invested in this conversation, but it will take the entire industry to explore and debate this topic.  How would end-users deploy it?  How will system and component vendors implement it?  And, as we look at 100GbE, 400GbE, and ultimately, Terabit Ethernet, it is clear we need a technology that will bridge across multiple speeds, not generation specific solutions that don’t grow with subsequent developments in technology.   

So, as Chairman of the Ethernet Alliance, I invite you to join the industry as we contemplate how to make the eventual a reality.  Be there on the day, when the industry takes that step forward.  You will want to be there.  And, if you would like to submit a topic for consideration, please see the event Call for Presentations, which may be found at – www.ethernetalliance.org /xxx/xxx. 

We look forward to the debate and seeing you there.