* IEEE study group on 10 Gigabit EPON
The IEEE study group looking at increasing support for Ethernet passive optical networks (EPON) has agreed to ask the larger body to allow it to develop a standard.
The group recently posted on its Web site a project authorization request and the so-called five criteria that provide a rationale for developing any new standard.
You may recall that a couple of months ago I mentioned that the IEEE held a call for interest on this topic, and the attendees decided to form the study group. The five criteria and PAR are the next step toward getting a task force together and hammering out a standard.
The PAR states that the goal of the group would be to define “physical layer specifications and management parameters for symmetric and/or asymmetric operation at 10Gbps on point-to-multipoint passive optical networks.” The resulting standard would be used by metro access providers for backhaul and multi-tenant buildings, and would be suitable for delivering high-bandwidth services. Other goals include: “reducing footprint and power consumption of central office equipment; minimizing service upgrade cost; and minimizing fiber deployment costs.”
The five criteria are broad market potential, compatibility with current standards, distinct identity, technical feasibility and economic feasibility.
For market potential, the group cites applications ranging from HDTV and IPTV to online games to medical imaging to videoconferencing and video e-mail. (Aside: Video e-mail? Can you imagine newsletters like this one delivered as video? Yikes.)
The project would be distinct in that it would be the only 10Gbps EPON specification; the group is weighing both symmetric 10Gbps Ethernet and 10Gbps downstream and 1Gbps upstream. Both options were judged to be technically feasible.
On compatibility, the document states that the proposed standard will conform to the simplified full-duplex media access control, and that the management information base (MIB) for 10Gbps PHY for EPON will maintain compatibility with the current 802.3 MIB. As for economic feasibility, the group argues that reduced footprint and power consumption of central-office equipment and fewer trunk fibers will help bring infrastructure costs down.
