50 Years of Unstoppable Connectivity: Ethernet Alliance Celebrates Ethernet’s Golden Anniversary
Leading industry voice of Ethernet commemorates major Ethernet milestone with flurry of activities, including Computer History Museum Ethernet@50 anniversary event
BEAVERTON, OR, May 22, 2023 – The Ethernet Alliance, a global consortium dedicated to the continued success and advancement of Ethernet technologies, is marking Ethernet’s 50-year track record of innovation with diverse activities and celebrations throughout the year, including sponsorship of the Computer History Museum’s (CHM) Ethernet@50 anniversary event.“That Ethernet remains the gold standard for effortless connectivity a half-century after its inception is a testament to both the simple brilliance of its design and the open, global community that has coalesced around it,” said Peter Jones, chair, Ethernet Alliance. “The last five decades have brought remarkable changes, such as the rise of social media, edge computing, the Internet of Things, connected cars, and online gaming. Ethernet has been there through it all, adapting swiftly to new applications and environments, all while living up to its promise that you plug it in, and it just works.”
The Ethernet portfolio continues to expand, encompassing higher speeds and game-changing advances such as Power over Ethernet (PoE), Single Pair Ethernet (SPE), Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN), and more. According to Sameh Boujelbene, vice president, Data Center and Campus Ethernet Switch Market Research, Dell’Oro Group, some nine billion Ethernet switch ports have shipped during the last two decades, for a total market value of well over $450 billion USD. With the imminent arrival of the Terabit Ethernet era, ensuring interoperability is more important than ever before.
“Next generation high-speed Ethernet switches, routers, and network interface cards are pushing the envelope for the interconnect market, requiring a new approach to testing and deploying modules and cables to ensure network links can come up cleanly and repeatedly. This reality clearly underscores the critical role that interoperability plays in achieving the seamless connectivity that is Ethernet’s hallmark,” said David J. Rodgers, chair, Ethernet Alliance Events & Conferences Committee. “The Ethernet Alliance remains dedicated to facilitating industry-wide interoperability collaborations to not only address this challenge, but to also enable future generations of Ethernet innovation.”
As the industry voice of Ethernet, the Ethernet Alliance has played a vital role in facilitating its commercialization, bridging the gap between Ethernet technology standards and end users. By fostering industry collaboration and interoperability, the organization continues to advance Ethernet’s adoption across markets. In 2023 alone, more than 20 industry-leading technology developers, manufacturers, and solutions providers have thus far participated in Ethernet Alliance interoperability demonstrations at conferences such as the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC 2023), and plugfests at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL).
The Ethernet Alliance is pleased to offer professional, educational, and knowledge-sharing resources, such as its ongoing Technology Webinar series, the industry’s only Ethernet Roadmap and PoE Certification Program, and blogs from recognized industry experts. To help preserve the half-century history of Ethernet, the Alliance has established the Voices of Ethernet oral history archive. Aimed at preserving Ethernet’s history by capturing spoken personal recollections of pivotal events and major milestones from key individuals, the archive includes oral histories from Ethernet co-creator and A. M. Turing Award recipient Robert Metcalfe; standards pioneer Gary S. Robinson; and legendary computer designer and architect Gordon Bell, among many other prominent networking pioneers.
As a primary sponsor, the Ethernet Alliance will be taking part in the CHM Live Ethernet@50 in-person and virtual event on May 22, 2023, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. The celebration will feature a special live recording of The Verge’s flagship podcast, The Vergecast, as well as discussions of how entrepreneurs and executives turned Ethernet into a dynamic global industry. See Ethernet@50 event highlights and watch recording here: https://computerhistory.org/blog/ethernet-turns-50/.
For more information about the Ethernet Alliance, please visit https://bit.ly/EA-Ethernet50th, follow @EthernetAllianc on Twitter, visit its Facebook page, or follow its LinkedIn company page.
The Ethernet Alliance is a global consortium that includes system and component vendors, industry experts, and university and government professionals who are committed to the continued success and expansion of Ethernet technology. The Ethernet Alliance takes Ethernet standards to market by supporting activities that span from incubation of new Ethernet technologies to interoperability demonstrations and education. The organization’s plans may be found on the Events page of its website.
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Media Contact:
Laurie Davis
Interprose for Ethernet Alliance
+1 804 337 2569
