IEEE Launches Yearlong Effort to Assess Rapidly Diversifying Ethernet Bandwidth Needs Around the World

PISCATAWAY, NJ, 13 September 2018– IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for humanity, and the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA) today announced the launch of a one-year effort to assess the Ethernet bandwidth requirements of industry globally. The IEEE 802.3™ Industry Connections New Ethernet Applications Ad Hoc invites contributions of data from individuals and organizations worldwide related to future network bandwidth growth trends.

“The first IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Bandwidth Assessment report, published in 2012, was extensively referenced in industry reporting and roadmapping and greatly informed innovation around IEEE 802.3, IEEE Standard for Ethernet,” said John D’Ambrosia, chair of the ad hoc. “The diversity of demands on Ethernet networks has exploded in the years since, and now it is time to reassess industry’s current and foreseeable bandwidth needs around the world. I am excited to learn more about the use-case models that are unfolding and emerging applications that are taking shape worldwide.”

Regularly updated with expanded capacity and features to support market demand since the IEEE 802.3 standard’s initial approval in 1983, Ethernet is developing amid unprecedented innovation on multiple fronts. Bandwidth demand on the technology is diversifying both across and within application spaces. The technology is being increasingly leveraged in industrial, data-center interconnect, mobile backhaul, augmented reality and virtual reality applications. Meanwhile, it is shouldering fundamentally different services within the automotive industry, supporting application traffic within the vehicle, as well as the wired backhaul connectivity for wireless traffic between the vehicle and the environment and infrastructure around it. Furthermore, Ethernet bandwidth needs are varying sharply from geographic region to region around the world.

The IEEE 802.3 Industry Connections New Ethernet Applications Ad Hoc seeks input from industry spanning the technology’s rapidly growing scope of use cases. The effort to produce the second bandwidth-assessment report was introduced at the IEEE 802.3 Interim Meeting, 10-14 September 2018 in Spokane, Washington, United States. To learn more about sharing bandwidth trends either in person or by teleconference, organizations also can visit the ad hoc’s website.

Deployment of technology defined by IEEE 802^® standards is already globally pervasive, driven by the ever-growing needs of data networks around the world. New application areas are constantly being considered that might leverage IEEE 802 standards in their networks from wireless, through twisted-pair cabling, to fiber-optic cabling solutions. To better address the needs of all of these areas, IEEE 802 standards are constantly evolving and expanding. The success of IEEE 802 standards—from their inception through today—has been based upon their fair, open and transparent development process.

To learn more about IEEE SA or about any of its many market-driven initiatives, visit us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, connect with us on LinkedIn, or on the Beyond Standards Blog.

IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA) is a collaborative organization where innovators raise the world’s standards for technology. IEEE SA provides a globally open, consensus-building environment and platform that empowers people to work together in the development of leading-edge, market-relevant technology standards, and industry solutions shaping a better, safer and sustainable world. For more information, visit https://standards-qa21.ieee.org.

IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is the trusted voice in a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers, and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power, and consumer electronics. Learn more at https://www.ieee.org.