BY PATRICK McLAUGHLIN
At the Interop exhibition (www.interop.com) in late May, the Ethernet Alliance (www.ethernetalliance.org) hosted a number of demonstrations, including a 10-Gigabit, 10GBase-KR Backplane Ethernet demo with connector vendors Molex (www.molex.com) and Tyco Electronics. (www.tycoelectronics.com), as well as Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (www.amcc.com).
The 10GBase-KR setup was based on the recently completed IEEE 802.3ap standard and, according to the Alliance, supported error-free 10-GbE serial data traffic over reference backplanes. Specifically, Tyco Electronics exhibited its Z-PACK TinMan connector system and Molex featured its I-Trac Backplane Connector System.
“Tyco Electronics believes that the superior signal integrity characteristics of the Z-PACK TinMan connector system make it a logical fit for the current and future requirements of 10 Gigabit Ethernet over the backplane,” says Bob Hnatuck, Tyco Electronics’ product manager for high-speed backplane connectors. “Combining its performance strengths with flexibility in densities and cost-effectiveness makes it an ideal choice by system designers.”
“The Molex I-Trac Backplane System is an innovative solution for new Ethernet standards supporting 10-Gbits/sec,” says Ryan Price, product manager with Molex. “Additionally, the I-Trac Reference Backplane’s error-free performance shows how it can be used in new platforms designed to operate in the 10-Gbit-plus environment.”
The occasion also marked Molex’s new membership in the Ethernet Alliance. “Molex’s membership and its part in the Interop event is an important industry-participation step that builds on our active role in the development of the 10-Gbit/sec Backplane Ethernet standard,” says Gourgen Oganessyan, senior signal integrity engineer with Molex. “We are confident that the demonstration of error-free 10-Gbit/sec data transmission over a one-meter channel in the I-Trac Reference Backplane will serve as an illustration of technological maturity and feasibility of this important standard.”
“The Ethernet Alliance’s vision of becoming the industry voice for IEEE 802 Ethernet has become a success due to the support and commitment of members,” says Brad Booth, president of the Ethernet Alliance. “As we celebrate our one-year anniversary at Interop Las Vegas, the Ethernet Alliance is proud to showcase the latest in IEEE 802 Ethernet technologies. The Ethernet Alliance and its members look forward to continuing the advancement of Ethernet technologies.”
The 10GBase-KR demonstration was one of five the Alliance displayed at Interop. Other technologies and applications on display included 10GBase-LRM, 10GBase-T, Power over Ethernet, and data center applications.
On the relevance of such demonstrations, Infonetics Research’s (www.infonetics.com) directing analyst of enterprise voice and data, Matthias Machowinski, says, “Shipments of 10-GbE ports doubled last year and 10-GbE demand continues unabated. In a recent study we did, respondents planned large increases in the number of 10-GbE ports in their networks. Data centers will be a key area for these deployments and in order to avoid bottlenecks and process at that speed, organizations will need to upgrade server-to-server connections and blade-server clusters, which will drive demand for 10GBase-KR.”
The University of New Hampshire Interoperability Lab provided technical management and support for the five demonstrations, which in total featured more than 100 devices.
