The IEEE Standards Board has announced the approval of an amendment to the popular IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard, which expands the standard by adding the new specification for 10 Gb/s on point-to-multipoint passive optical networks.
The Ethernet standard already covers 1 Gb/s Ethernet Passive Optical Network (1G-EPON). More than 30 million users worldwide are currently served by 1G-EPON. The new amendment expands the existing Ethernet standard by adding the new specification for 10 Gb/s on point-to-multipoint passive optical networks.
The amendment is known by the name IEEE Std. 802.3av, "Standard for Information Technology – Telecommunications and Information Exchange Between Systems – Local and Metropolitan Area Networks – Specific Requirements Part 3: Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) Access Method and Physical Layer Specifications Amendment: Physical Layer Specifications and Management Parameters for 10Gb/s Passive Optical Networks."
"This 10G-EPON standard is a product of cooperation between telecom and cable operators, equipment manufacturers, and component vendors," says Paul Nikolich, Chair, IEEE 802 Local and Metropolitan Area Networks Standards Committee of the IEEE Computer Society.
According to David Law, Chair, IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Working Group, "The 10G-EPON standard enables the network operators to significantly increase the performance of their point-to-multipoint architectures, supporting emerging bandwidth-intensive services, while simultaneously lowering the costs related to equipment, operation, upgrade and maintenance."
"The 10G-EPON standard provides the highest data rate among all existing access technologies," says Glen Kramer, Chair, IEEE P802.3av 10G-EPON Task Force. "In addition, 10G-EPON is designed to coexist with previous generation EPON on the same network, allowing mixed deployments and targeted, one-user-at-a-time, upgrades."
IEEE Std. 802.3av was developed by the Ethernet Working Group of the Local and Metropolitan Area Networks Standards Committee of the IEEE Computer Society.
