High-speed networking alliances to merge

November 17, 2008-The Ethernet Alliance and the Road to 100G Alliance today announced an intention for the Road to 100G Alliance to transition into the Ethernet Alliance. The transition unites two industry organizations that are committed to the promotion and advancement of high-performance Ethernet networking. 

The non-profit Road to 100G Alliance seeks to provide seamless interoperability among the disparate, standards-based components required to build high-capacity network elements. The Ethernet Alliance seeks to promote industry awareness, acceptance, and advancement of technology and products based on existing and emerging IEEE 802 Ethernet standards.

"The Road to 100G Alliance has met and exceeded its expectations in terms of exposing the challenges of developing 100G platforms," says Bill Weisinger, chairman of the Road to 100G Alliance. "With the challenges well understood, it is the right time for us to join with the Ethernet Alliance and fulfill the balance of our goal: to establish a comprehensive ecosystem of suppliers and users to accelerate the adoption and ongoing development of high-performance networking solutions."

Brad Booth, chairman of the board for the Ethernet Alliance, notes, "The demand for bandwidth is growing in every market segment--from consumer to enterprise to service and content providers. The Ethernet Alliance praises the Road to 100G Alliance and its members on highlighting the challenges of 100G and is honored they believe the Ethernet Alliance is the organization to further their goal. Given the alignment of our visions and strategies, the combination of our two organizations will greatly advance the development of the high-speed Ethernet ecosystem, benefiting customers worldwide."

In November 2007, the IEEE 802.3 working group authorized the formation of the IEEE P802.3ba task force to begin work on a draft standard for 40 Gigabit and 100 Gigabit Ethernet. Last week, the task force completed review of the first draft of IEEE P802.3ba, which keeps the task force on track for standard ratification by mid-2010.

On the Web: www.ethernetalliance.org