The 2022 Ethernet Roadmap is Here

Delivering broad perspective over technology’s applications, features and new directions

The Ethernet Alliance released its 2022 Ethernet Roadmap — the industry’s only publicly available Ethernet guide sharing key underlying technologies, current and future interfaces, and the growing range of application spaces where Ethernet plays a fundamental role.

Components of the Roadmap

Since 2015, the Ethernet Alliance has regularly released new versions of the roadmap, providing an easy, graphical way to keep the industry informed of Ethernet updates and advancements.

The 2022 Ethernet Roadmap focuses on key application spaces for the technology:

Automotive: “Richer multimedia experience, autonomous driver assistance systems (ADAS), roll-out of autonomous vehicles and convergence of legacy in-vehicle networking (IVN) technologies towards Ethernet, will be the big drivers for Ethernet adoption in cars.”

Enterprise: “Enterprise and Campus applications are a huge market for Ethernet with over a billion ports shipping per year. … The changing needs of Wi-Fi access points and Enterprise class client devices are driving technology transitions.”

Service Providers: “In particular, the 5G mobile deployment is driving dramatic increases in both fronthaul and backhaul applications, which continues to push Ethernet requirements for higher rates and longer distances. With a global consumption of video across devices, this shows no signs of changing.”

Automation, Building and Industrial: These “applications are moving from older fieldbus style networks to Ethernet. This move has been accelerating over the last decade, with Ethernet as a key enabling technology for the Fourth Industrial Revolution aka Industry 4.0.”

Cloud Providers: “With voracious appetites for applications like AI and Machine Learning, hyperscale servers have moved to 25GbE, and are transitioning to 50GbE, 100GbE and beyond… The bandwidth demands of both hyperscale data centers and service providers continue to grow exponentially…”

In the coming weeks on this blog, we will publish deeper dives into these application spaces as it relates to the Roadmap.

Application Solutions

The Roadmap also illustrates evolution in component solutions supporting the applications including:

• latest interfaces and nomenclatures
• data rates
• the Ethernet ecosystem
• innovation of single-lane Ethernet
• signaling methods
• optical evolution.

“The Ethernet Roadmap has established itself as a valuable industry staple, giving stakeholders a uniquely broad perspective on the latest in the technology’s applications, features, speeds and feeds, and solutions. The roadmap is designed to fuel the imagination of stakeholders from across and beyond the Ethernet ecosystem,” said Peter Jones, chair, Ethernet Alliance, and distinguished engineer, Enterprise Networking, Cisco Systems.

“As the industry voice for Ethernet, the Ethernet Alliance is ideally positioned to drive conversations and distill insights, and we already are planning for future iterations of the tool to map the technology’s ongoing evolution.”

Where to Get Yours

PDF versions and the illustrated graphics are available now to download.

Looking for a printed version? All Ethernet Alliance members will receive 5 printed copies via mail in April. Complimentary printed copies will also be available at live events throughout the year at Ethernet Alliance member companies’ booths.

Contact Ethernet Alliance for the latest show schedule to pick up your copy of the roadmap: admin@ethernetalliance.org.