IEEE task forces move forward on Ethernet standards

IEEE task forces made progress on Power over Ethernet Plus, 10G Ethernet Passive Optical Networks, Energy-Efficient Ethernet and Higher-Speed Ethernet at the 802.3 interim meetings last week.

The Ethernet Alliance, a group dedicate to promoting the use of Ethernet technology, provided the updates from the meetings in Seoul, Korea:

The 802.3at task force created Draft 3.2 of the specification for Power over Ethernet Plus, and the Ethernet Alliance says the group is looking at ratification of the specification as a standard in the second half of 2009. The PoE Plus spec promises more power over Ethernet cables than Power over Ethernet.

The 802.3av task force working on 10G EPON created Draft 2.1 of its specification and reviewed 742 comments. That task force is also looking to the second half of 2009 to ratify the standard, which improves upon the 1G EPON by defining a new physical layer for 10G EPON.

The 802.3az task force approved the creation of Draft 1.0 of its Energy-Efficient Ethernet specification for technical review. This is the first major milestone in developing the standard. The group is looking for standard ratification in early 2010.

The 802.3ba task force, which is working on 40Gbps and 100Gbps Ethernet, approved the generation of Draft 1.0 of its spec and will now enter the task force review stage, the Ethernet Alliance says. Ratification is expected in mid-2010.

The Ethernet Alliance supports the IEEE task forces through its technical subcommittees, holds private interoperability test events and offers information on Ethernet standards.

Jeff Caruso is site editor at Network World.