Ethernet Alliance Showcases Latest Advancements in Optical Ethernet Interoperability at OFC/NFOEC 2013

BEAVERTON, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Ethernet Alliance, a global consortium dedicated to the continued success and advancement of Ethernet technologies, today announced details of its presence at the 2013 Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition and National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC). The largest global conference and exposition for optical communications and networking professionals, OFC/NFOEC 2013 is March 19 – 21, 2013 at the Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California. The Ethernet Alliance’s live demo of optical 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) interoperability in booth 2909 and featured panel sessions highlight the benefits of standardization and ongoing support for 10, 40, and 100GbE across both copper and optical media.

“With the emergence of key drivers such as cloud computing, data center convergence, network virtualization, and innovations like the Internet of Things, Internet traffic continues to rise dramatically. Ethernet is an intuitive and ubiquitous technology that the industry relies upon to make today’s interconnected global networks function properly”

During OFC/NFOEC 2013, the Ethernet Alliance’s booth will be home to a live demo of multiple data centers operating across a fully interoperable Ethernet network, including servers, switches, routers, and cabling, and incorporating speeds ranging from 10 to 100GbE. Interfacing to the data centers will be an array of components and devices that are among the vanguard of next-generation Ethernet products, as well as additional cutting-edge equipment that will drive traffic to all data centers. The demo will clearly illustrate Ethernet’s superior breadth and depth, interoperability, and value.

“Ethernet has matured beyond its roots into a sophisticated core connectivity technology found throughout every layer of the network, thanks to ongoing standardization and interoperability efforts. With standardization, we can facilitate true interoperability both horizontally and vertically across the whole ecosystem,” said Ethernet Alliance board member Matt Traverso, engineering manager, Cisco Systems. “Maintaining a strong relationship with the fiber optics community is critical, therefore, the Ethernet Alliance has again chosen OFC/NFOEC to demonstrate the proven value that Ethernet standardization and interoperability offers.”

In addition to its demo on the OFC/NFOEC expo floor, Ethernet Alliance experts will be featured speakers during the following two panels:

Trends in Interconnects & Integration: Chasing Electrical to Optical Conversion – 1:00pm PST, March 20, 2013, Expo Theater II, Anaheim Convention Center. Led by moderator Greg McSorley, technical business development manager, Amphenol, this panel encompasses a wide range of interconnection and integration trends and developments, such as the adoption of parallel fiber, direct attach cables, and optical backplanes. Panelists include Ethernet Alliance members Brad Booth, distinguished engineer, networking CTO office, Dell; Chris Cole, director of engineering, Finisar; and Matt Traverso, engineering manager, Cisco Systems.
Need for Speed: Going Beyond 100GbE – 1:50pm PST, March 20, 2013, Expo Theater II, Anaheim Convention Center. Moderator and Ethernet Alliance President, Scott Kipp, principal engineer, Brocade, and panelists Dr. Gordon Brebner, distinguished engineer, Xilinx; Alan Weckel, analyst, Dell’Oro; and Dr. Jeffery J. Maki, distinguished engineer, Juniper Networks will engage in discussion of the ongoing 400GbE Call For Interest (CFI), findings of the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Bandwidth Assessment Report, adoption rates for 40- and 100GbE, bandwidth growth, and future Ethernet speeds.

A special live video update delivered by Ethernet Alliance Chairman, John D’Ambrosia, chief Ethernet evangelist, CTO office, Dell, will immediately follow the Need for Speed: Going Beyond 100GbE panel. The video presentation will provide details on the start of 400GbE, including next steps and what the future holds for this latest Ethernet advancement.

Member companies participating in the Ethernet Alliance’s OFC/NFOEC interoperability demonstration include Amphenol Corporation (NYSE: APH); Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD); Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO); Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ: FNSR); Hitachi, Ltd (TSE: 6501); Ixia (NASDAQ: XXIA); LSI Corp. (NASDAQ: LSI); Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR); Nexans S.A. (EN Paris: NEX); Oclaro, Inc. (NASDAQ: OCLR); Panduit Corp.; Spirent Communications (LSE: SPT); and Volex (LSE: VLX).

“With the emergence of key drivers such as cloud computing, data center convergence, network virtualization, and innovations like the Internet of Things, Internet traffic continues to rise dramatically. Ethernet is an intuitive and ubiquitous technology that the industry relies upon to make today’s interconnected global networks function properly,” said Scott Kipp, Ethernet Alliance President, and principal engineer, Brocade. “From today’s emerging deployment of 100GbE to tomorrow’s 400GbE and beyond, interoperability will be more important than ever. The Ethernet Alliance remains deeply committed to ensuring the continued success and advancement of Ethernet technologies.”

About the Ethernet Alliance

The Ethernet Alliance is a global consortium that includes system and component vendors, industry experts and university and government professionals who are committed to the continued success and expansion of Ethernet technology. The Ethernet Alliance takes Ethernet standards to market by supporting activities that span from incubation of new Ethernet technologies to interoperability demonstrations and education.

For more information about the Ethernet Alliance, please visit www.ethernetalliance.org; follow @EthernetAllianc on Twitter; visit the Ethernet Alliance Facebook page; or join the Ethernet Alliance LinkedIn group. Individuals who would like to receive updates on Ethernet Alliance news, activities and events may sign up for the organization’s newsletter at www.ethernetalliance.org/newsletter.

Additional Quotes:

“Amphenol is once again proud to be part of the Ethernet Alliance live demo at this year’s OFC/NFOEC 2013 exhibition demo. As always this is a great opportunity for Amphenol to showcase our world class High Speed interconnect systems. Along with our passive and active copper cable assemblies, we will be showing casing our enhanced SFP+, QSFP+ and CFP2 cages and connectors. We will also be demonstrating our latest optical interconnect solutions, including extending Ethernet from the traditional indoor environment to the sealed outdoor wireless and backhaul applications.” – Greg McSorley, Technical Business Development Manager, Amphenol Corp.

“As organizations continue to move their content and applications to the cloud, seamless connectivity and high bandwidth are increasingly critical. Brocade is pleased to be part of the Ethernet Alliance live interoperability demonstration at OFC/NFOEC 2013 to show how 100 GbE and resilient data center technologies such as Multi-Chassis Trunking help ensure application performance and a high-quality user experience in cloud environments. As a proud member of the Ethernet Alliance, we look to advance the industry and develop future Ethernet technologies to help meet the needs of our customers.” – Ken Cheng, Vice President, Routing, Application Delivery and Software Networking Group, Brocade

“Finisar is pleased to showcase our 100GBASE-LR4 and 100GBASE-SR10 CFP2 optical modules in this live demonstration of optical 100GE interoperability with the Ethernet Alliance. These next-generation 100G Ethernet products are now a reality and are expected to be a vital part of the higher-density systems supporting the rising bandwidth demand in carrier networks and data centers.” - Christian Urricariet, Director of Marketing for High-Speed Products, Finisar Corporation

“Hitachi Cable is excited to participate in the Ethernet Alliance’s interoperability demonstration with our innovative high-performance interconnects - especially designed to meet the supercomputing industry’s requirements for transport speed, density, power consumption and reliability. We’re grateful for the opportunity to highlight our 10GbE, 40GbE and 100GbE optical and copper interconnect solutions, and to showcase some of our newest technologies at OFC 2013.” - Mike Ressl, Director, Technical Marketing and Business Development, Hitachi Cable America

“Networking workload demands are growing at an exponential pace. As part of the Ethernet Alliance OFC demonstration, LSI will be showcasing its 28G transceiver technology. This transceiver enables Ethernet 802.3bj 4x25G and 32GFC deployment over high-loss copper backplane and cables medium with its powerful yet efficient equalization technology. LSI’s 28G transceiver will enable next-generation datacenters to keep up with workload demands at an affordable cost.” – Harold Gomard, Director of Technology and IP Planning, LSI

“Juniper Networks and our customers benefit from the ongoing advancement of multivendor interoperability and standards based technology to help encourage innovation. In collaboration with the Ethernet Alliance, Juniper Networks will demonstrate multi-vendor 100GbE compliance and interoperability using the MX Series 3D Universal Edge Router. Additionally, Juniper will validate the support for CFP and CFP2 transceivers for 100GbE networks.” - Jeffery J. Maki, Distinguished Engineer, Optical, Juniper Networks

"Panduit is always excited to participate in events like OFC 2013 with the Ethernet Alliance. We feel that it is a great opportunity to demonstrate that our products, solutions and technology innovations work with other Ethernet Alliance member's technologies and we look forward to engaging with exhibition attendees via speaking opportunities and in-person conversations during the event." - Jeffery Paliga, Director of Data Center Solutions, Panduit

“Volex is pleased to support the Ethernet Alliance and the Live Demo at this year’s OFC exhibition while celebrating Ethernet’s 40^th birthday. Data-Center longer reach links between switches in the Demo include our passive optical trunk, uplink and hydra cables. We are very happy to announce and demo our new 40G QSFP+ Active Optical Cable product which uses our new expanded beam technology.” - Jon Lawrence, VP Emerging Technologies & New Products, Volex. Volex optical and copper cables and interconnect solutions are supporting the expanding multi-market Ethernet-based network build-outs.