40GBase-T update: 25GBase-T likely to ride along, March 2016 a hopeful finish line

The IEEE has its sights set on March 2016 as the finish line for the 40GBase-T specification, and there is some likelihood that the standard also will include specifications for 25GBase-T. These insights will be published in the February 2015 issue of Cabling Installation & Maintenance magazine, in an article authored by David Chalupsky. A network hardware architect at Intel Corporation, Chalupsky chairs the IEEE P802.3bq 40GBase-T Task Force and also chairs the Ethernet Alliance’s Base-T Subcommittee.

Chalupsky told Cabling Installation & Maintenance the 40GBase-T project “expects to have a ratified standard in about a year from now, approximately March 2016. Currently the project is nearing completion of the Task Force Review phase, which means technical proposals have been adopted, a draft specification has been generated and undergone a couple review cycles within the task force. That task force now feels that the draft is technically complete, and will seek approval to start the Working Group Ballot phase in March 2015.

“One bit of excitement anticipated is the inclusion of 25GBase-T in a future draft,” he added. “The 25GBase-T Study Group has just generated the documentation necessary to add 25GBase-T into P802.3bq (the 40GBase-T project). If this documentation is approved by the IEEE Standards Board in March 2015, then P802.3bq will quickly add the specifications for 25GBase-T into the next draft with the goal of meeting the original P802.3bq completion schedule.”

The contents of Cabling Installation & Maintenance’s February issue will be available online approximately on February 16. You can subscribe to the monthly magazine here.