Broadcom readies pre-standard copper 10 Gig Ethernet

Getting a jump on the 10 Gigabit Ethernet standards group, Broadcom this week announced an Ethernet switch reference design for equipment makers that includes copper-based 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports.

While engineers in the IEEE’s 802.3ak task force are still developing the standard for copper 10 Gigabit (10GBase-CX4), Broadcom’s switch designs include fixed-configured 24- and 48-port Gigabit Ethernet boxes with multiple 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. The switch will use 10GBase-CX4-based technology integrated into a 10 Gigabit Attachment Unit Interface (XAUI), which allows for a compact port size.

The 10G bit/sec ports are based on drafts of 802.3ak, which specifies using four pairs of twinaxial cable. The standard focuses on twinaxial cabling because of its greater bandwidth capacity vs. standard unshielded twisted pair, which is used in the ubiquitous Category-5, -5E and -6 cabling technologies.

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Getting a jump on the 10 Gigabit Ethernet standards group, Broadcom this week announced an Ethernet switch reference design for equipment makers that includes copper-based 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports.

While engineers in the IEEE’s 802.3ak task force are still developing the standard for copper 10 Gigabit (10GBase-CX4), Broadcom’s switch designs include fixed-configured 24- and 48-port Gigabit Ethernet boxes with multiple 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. The switch will use 10GBase-CX4-based technology integrated into a 10 Gigabit Attachment Unit Interface (XAUI), which allows for a compact port size.

The 10G bit/sec ports are based on drafts of 802.3ak, which specifies using four pairs of twinaxial cable. The standard focuses on twinaxial cabling because of its greater bandwidth capacity vs. standard unshielded twisted pair, which is used in the ubiquitous Category-5, -5E and -6 cabling technologies.

When 10 Gigabit Ethernet was first developed for fiber optics, long-range data transmission was one of the main goals - basically Ethernet’s answer to OC-192 SONET. The IEEE is now pushing a 10 Gigabit copper standard to satisfy a demand for very fast, short-range server and switch-to-switch interconnects that are less expensive than fiber, the standards body says. With some vendors charging as much as $70,000 for a single fiber-based 10 Gigabit port, copper 10 Gigabit may be a welcomed change. Some experts say a 10GBase-CX4 will cost around half the price of its fiber counterparts.

The IEEE expects 802.3ak won’t reach standard status until next year. But Broadcom will make its copper 10 Gigabit switch reference design available to switch manufactures in the third quarter. This is not unusual, as vendors had “draft standards-based” 10 Gigabit Ethernet gear on the market a year before the technology received the IEEE’s final stamp. Pricing for Broadcom’s switch was not released.