Gigabit Ethernet with a speedy twist

Ethernet may leave the comforts of a LAN-based home and move into some new digs. By increasing its speed to 10 Gb/s and pushing it over optical fiber, Ethernet becomes a viable solution for the metropolitan area network and even the WAN. Already on the drawing board, 10 Gb/s Ethernet could alleviate pressure that increased e-commerce, Internet, e-mail and predicted so-called "killer apps" will put on networks during the next few years.

To extend Ethernet beyond the LAN, the data transmission rate must match the current data rates of OC-192 and dense wave division multiplexing equipment. A 10 Gb/s Ethernet actually transmits at 9.5 Gb/s. The high-speed Ethernet interface allows application service providers (ASPs), enterprises and ISPs to seamlessly integrate into the MAN and WAN by mapping onto a single fiber or wavelength, without affecting Ethernet performance in the LAN.

"At these speeds, the application becomes more of a WAN solution and less of a LAN solution," said Rod Wilson, director of the 10G Ethernet Project for Nortel Networks. The technology is relevant to the LAN, but it won't be used for several years, he added. Nortel expects to ship 10 Gb/s Ethernet MAN and WAN equipment by early 2001.

Although Nortel has revealed it is working on 10 Gb/s Ethernet technology, other vendors might be hot on its tail, said Christin Flynn, an analyst for The Yankee Group. "If anyone else came up with this technology, it would be Lucent [Technologies]. They have technology on the optics and the metro sides," she said, adding that Alcatel would be another candidate in the 10 Gb/s Ethernet field. Last week, Ciena unveiled a 10 Gb/s solution for the MAN that will enable 10 Gb/s Ethernet.

Acting as a bridge between the public and private network infrastructures, 10 Gb/s Ethernet also simplifies points of presence (POPs) and WAN architectures, said Carlos Zaidi, strategist for emerging technologies at Nortel.

The precise 9.5 Gb/s speed of 10 Gb/s Ethernet allows for seamless integration onto the optical fiber without protocol conversion, which reduces infrastructure and operational costs. "It's not just about speed," Zaidi said. "It's an opportunity to help carriers become more proficient in building better data and optical networks."

Sonet manages bursty traffic poorly, but Ethernet can handle bursts within the LAN - another plus for taking the technology into the MAN and WAN. "Ethernet is the best of both worlds," Wilson said. "I foresee a point in time where everybody doesn't just put in a huge pipe." Instead, network planners will "put in a pipe that doesn't waste bandwidth, is flexible and can grow to accommodate traffic," he said.

As for saving money, the continued decline in Ethernet port prices also makes 10 Gb/s Ethernet intriguing to service providers, said Michael Speyer, associate director of data communications for The Yankee Group.

As applications require more bandwidth, service providers must have access to available bandwidth. To meet customers' needs, today's service providers install customer premises equipment to address latency issues, said Eric Fachs, vice president of operations research for Interliant, a New York-based ASP. "Once it's available, we see a large demand for this type of technology, especially in large cities."

But the unknown cost of implementation is a major concern when it comes to 10 Gb/s Ethernet, Fachs said. For service providers to deploy the technology, the cost must come closer to cable modem price points, he said, adding that, "the last big thing is the time table for adoption."

Adoption might not be that far off, Wilson said. Nortel's OPTera metro product already supports 10 Gb/s Ethernet. A high-end core router with 10 Gb/s Ethernet capability should be ready for testing in one year, and it is expected to ship to customers in early 2001. In January, an IEEE task force will begin defining a 10 Gb/s Ethernet standard, which Wilson expects to further boost service provider confidence.