Solarflare confirms 10GBASE-T performance for Siemon copper cabling systems

Jan. 18, 2007
January 18, 2007 -- Recent testing performed by Solarflare Communications confirms that Siemon's 10G 6A UTP, 10G 6A F/UTP and Category 7/Class F TERA copper cabling systems meet or exceed all 10GBASE-T performance parameters dictated by the now ratified IEEE 802.3an-2006 standard.

January 18, 2007 -- Recent testing performed by Solarflare Communications confirms that Siemon's 10G 6A UTP, 10G 6A F/UTP and Category 7/Class F TERA copper cabling systems meet or exceed all 10GBASE-T performance parameters dictated by the now ratified IEEE 802.3an-2006 standard.

According to a press release, the three separate Siemon cabling systems were individually tested at Solarflare's test facility in Irvine, CA. Utilizing Solarflare's compliant IEEE 802.3an-2006 10GBASE-T 10Xpress PHY products, all tests were performed on 100 meter channel lengths, based on a worst-case six around one (6A1) alien crosstalk configuration.

The 10GBASE-T standard requires that all PHY products claiming compliance with the standard perform on this 100 meter worst-case channel. More specifically, the 6A1 configuration simulates a worst-case alien crosstalk environment, with six disturber cables bundled tightly around a seventh victim cable. Full line rate 10-Gbit/sec bi-directional Ethernet traffic was launched on each channel. A total of fourteen Solarflare 10GBASE-T compliant PHY cards were required to simulate a fully stressed environment (i.e. seven PHYs utilized on each end of 6A1 configuration).

Under these worst-case conditions, Siemon's 10G 6A UTP, 10G 6A F/UTP and TERA end-to-end platforms satisfied the 802.3an standard's stringent bit error ratio (BER) requirements for 10-Gbit/sec performance. According to the companies, the TERA S/FTP channel performed particularly well when compared to a typical category 6A UTP channel. The TERA channel exhibited on average an SNR margin of 30.2 dB, which is approximately 6 dB better than a typical category 6A UTP channel.

The companies contend that the tests underscore the commercial viability of 10GBASE-T technology by confirming overall compliance to full 802.3an system requirements as well as the interoperability of Solarflare's10-Gbit/sec electronics with the following cabling constructions recognized within IEEE 802.3an: Category 6A UTP, Category 6A F/UTP (screened) and Category 7 S/FTP (shielded), all with 100 meter reach.

Going forward, the two companies plan to conduct testing on Category 6 UTP at 55 meters.

"Siemon's extensive research and design capabilities were highlighted by Solarflare's results," comments Daniel J Mullin, director of Siemon Labs, the company's R&D arm. "In addition to our 10G6A UTP solution, the verification of 10G 6A F/UTP and TERA systems confirms the market practicality of screened and shielded systems. This is a great validation of Siemon's expertise and significant investment in screened and shielded technologies over the years."

"The successful testing of Siemon's three copper cabling products paves the way for many enterprise data centers and networks to cost-effectively move to high-performance 10 Gigabit Ethernet," adds Bruce Tolley, vice president of marketing at Solarflare. "It's another important step toward market adoption of this key technology."

More information on Siemon's 10GBASE-T compliant platforms can be found here. For more information on Solarflare Communications' 10GBASE-T PHY products, visit www.solarflare.com.

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