10 Gigabit Ethernet

10GBASE-T standard approved

On June 8th 2006 the IEEE Standards Association Standards Board approved IEEE P802.3an – the standard for 10 Gigabit Ethernet over 'normal' twisted pair cabling. This provides faster communication than the previous fastest typical solution of Gigabit Ethernet (1000BASE-T) and will prompt increasing deployment of screened Category 6 and Category 6A cabling systems to allow operation over 100 m channels.

While gigabit Ethernet provides sufficient throughput for most applications, there are instances where 10 Gigabit Ethernet may be desirable or demanded – such as in data centres and backbones.

Protocols

10 Gigabit Ethernet is supported over fibre optic and copper cabling by a number of protocols, including the following physical medium dependant sublayers:

• 10GBASE-T – approved 8th June 2006.
  Applications: Initially in the backbone, but with anticipated low-cost electronics it may also be deployed to the desktop.
  Media: twisted pair copper (Category 6A, Category 6).
• 10GBASE-CX4
  Applications: Primarily employed in data centres and similar environments.
  Media: specific point-to-point twisted pair copper assembly, up to 15 m.
• 10GBASE-SR, 10GBASE-LRM, 10GBASE-LR & 10GBASE-ER
  Applications: Primarily employed in building and campus backbones.
  Media: fibre optic (SR & LRM, multimode, LR & ER, singlemode).
  Distances are heavily dependant on the specification of the fibre

10GBASE-T limitations

The deployment of 10GBASE-T may be restricted by the cabling media – while Category 6A and shielded or screened Category 6 media may support 100 m channels, the use of unshielded Category 6 will significantly reduce the possible channel length to 55 m or less.

External links

• 10GBASE-T IEEE 802.3an Task Force