30 / 116
30 E L EC TR I C AL CONNEC T I ON
AU T UMN 20 1 7
GETTING UP TO SPEED
T
outed to address connectivity
needs now and into the future,
IEEE 802.3bz facilitates the
incremental evolution of access layer
bandwidth beyond 1Gbps. It will
allow for speeds of up to 5Gbps over
structured twisted pair wiring over
existing cabling networks.
“2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T Ethernet
is needed to leverage the vast installed
base of Category 5e and 6 cabling in
the enterprise sector and allow for
increased access layer bandwidth
beyond 1Gbps to serve emerging
needs. By employing 2.5G/5GBASE-T
networking over this installed cabling,
performance benefits can be realised
while deferring the high cost of cable
upgrades and delivering the right long
term cost/performance point for many
applications,” says Intel Data Centre
Group principal engineer and Ethernet
Alliance board member David Chalupsky.
2.5Gbps and 5Gbps are intermediate
speeds between the current standards
of Gigabit Ethernet (1000BASE-T) and
10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GBASE-T). The
idea of intermediate speeds came into
play around 2014 when it became clear
it would not be possible to distribute
10GBASE-T over Cat 5e and only over
limited distances with Cat 6 – Cat 6a
cable is the minimum requirement
to reach 100m. The high equipment
costs associated with installing new
cable networks, combined with
its inability to deliver Power over
Ethernet (PoE) are both potentially
contributing factors to slow uptake of
the 10GBASE-T Standard.
For these reasons, intermediate
speeds are necessary for exploiting
existing cable networks. When you
consider that reportedly over 70
billion metres of Cat5e and Cat6
cabling has shipped since 2003 and
that it accounts for the majority of
installed data cabling worldwide,
the importance of exploiting said
networks is clearly apparent.
“Because 2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T
are designed to operate on up to 100m
of Cat5e, Cat 6 or better cabling, they
provide higher speed data networking
capability for virtually all existing
enterprise category cabling infrastructure
where 1000BASE-T is used today.
“Significant value is achieved by
TO ACCOMMODATE THE
GROWING DATA DEMANDS OF
END USERS, THE INSTITUTE OF
ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS
ENGINEERS (IEEE) HAS RATIFIED
THE 802.3BZ STANDARD FOR
ETHERNET AMENDMENT: MEDIA
ACCESS CONTROL PARAMETERS,
PHYSICAL LAYERS AND
MANAGEMENT PARAMETERS FOR
2.5GBPS AND 5GBPS OPERATION.
JACOB HARRIS
REPORTS.
ETHERNET