INTEROPERABILITY
more complexity to the enterprise integration. ‘Te alphabet soup of transceiver technologies may be overwhelming to some,’ said Rodgers. ‘Suffice to say, the IEEE and corresponding MSAs are working to ensure articulation of clear use cases in an effort to simplify the task as best as possible, and the Ethernet Alliance too will be on board to assist with education and relevant resources.’
organisation. ‘Year aſter year,’ he said, ‘for more than 20 years, OIF members have continued to identify the industry’s needs and requirements and rapidly develop interop solutions that have directly impacted and facilitated global connectivity in the open network world. Tere is no end in sight for OIF based on all the new activities started in 2021, ensuring a busy future delivering interoperable solutions that enable a bright future for networking, compute and storage industries.’ Also striving towards interoperability is the
Ethernet Alliance, which launched in January 2006 as a non-profit industry consortium to promote and support Ethernet. David J. Rodgers, events chair, explained: ‘Te familiar and frequent refrain from members of the Ethernet Alliance is “interoperability testing, when is our next plugfest?” It is the push for interoperability that has proven to be the hallmark of the success for Ethernet becoming a ubiquitous communications technology. Tis fact has never been truer than with today’s multitude of pervasive Ethernet applications and uses.’
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Multiple applications Tere is, continued Rodgers, a veritable cornucopia of Ethernet flavors and applications. ‘Single pair, automotive, IoT, PoE – to name but a very few of the current permutations and all are reliant on ecosystem vendors deploying products that just work,’ he said. ‘Tat oſten these technologies do in fact just work is a direct result of the commitment solutions vendors make to advancing interoperability and standards conformance.’ Te advent of increased lane speeds, from
25GbE NRZ to 50GbE and now 100GbE PAM4 signaling, is changing the landscape for data centre and enterprise connectivity. ‘Where copper has been king,’ said Rodgers, ‘we’re now experiencing the migration to more fibre and enhanced electrical connections. Te pervasive nature of direct atached copper cables (DACs) in 10GbE and 25GbE interconnects, where 5m links are allowable, has become now 2m for 100GbE. Tese connections are still viable for switch to switch communications and some other short throws, however the ethernet community must now add Active Electrical Cables (AECs), Active Optical Cables (AOCs), and pluggable transceivers – aka optical modules – to bridge longer distances within the enterprise.’ Te Auto-Negotiation and Link Training (AN/
It is the push for interoperability that has proven to be the hallmark of the success for Ethernet becoming a ubiquitous communications technology”
LT) routines for DACs remains one of the more critical interoperability challenges in the next Ethernet era, according to Rodgers, as links need to support both new data rates as well as legacy communications in new products. ‘Ethernet interoperability testing will require test cases incorporating existing products in combination with new to ensure legacy hardware will work with new offerings,’ he said. Te data centre manager will also need to
include AEC, AOC, and optical interconnects in applications previously served by DACs, adding
Looking ahead Te new solutions and products are already a focus of the upcoming Ethernet Alliance sponsored Interoperability Plugfest plans. Te soon to be ratified IEEE802.3ck specification for 100GbE single lane Ethernet will be a major component of the 2022 testing sessions. ‘Key test and measurement companies are diligently working now to test early PHY designs based on the specification,’ revealed Rodgers. ‘Te feedback loop created by early testing is essential too. From specification to early product testing and then presenting findings to the IEEE is ongoing and will expedite successful product designs and deployment.’ Testing of component building blocks
is not necessarily new, however it takes on greater importance with the increased data rates. Irrespective of the interconnect options, believes Rodgers, the underlying success of 100GbE is predicated on a solid physical layer foundation. ‘All members of the Ethernet ecosystem are reliant on the stability of associated specifications to ensure their products too just work,’ he said. ‘Without that surety of specification conformance, without focused and cooperative testing amongst all players, everyone in the pool suffers. ‘Success with the testing and validation of
the emerging new components is a great first step. Tere is an ongoing requirement for interoperability testing of legacy Ethernet products in conjunction with new 100GbE offerings to ensure seamless and successful integration moving forward. Te legacy interop testing has long been part of the requirement of customers directly and the Ethernet ecosystem overall.’ Te Ethernet Alliance has commited to
advancing opportunities for the Ethernet community to come together to test and validate performance and interoperability of emerging technologies. ‘A major focus for these ongoing efforts,’ said Rodgers, ‘will be on interconnect solutions. As the effective connection reach of DACs lessens with higher data rates, the use of optical options, AOCs and transceivers, and electrically enhanced copper cables will increase. Te network equipment manufacturing community will strive to ensure the end users of their products enjoy the benefits of testing such that Ethernet continues to just work.’n
Fibre Yearbook 2022
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