Ethernet and Emerging Technologies: Q2 2024 Highlights
As technologies continue to rapidly emerge and evolve, Ethernet remains a foundation that enables game-changing innovation. As the industry voice of Ethernet, the Ethernet Alliance provides a channel for fostering new Ethernet technologies and speeding the transition from standardization to widespread adoption.
With a flurry of activity for both the Ethernet Alliance and the Ethernet ecosystem in the second quarter of 2024, there’s a lot to be excited about! Read on for highlights of all of the great things we’ve seen in recent months.
Back to the Future – The Technology Exploration Forum Returns
Returning for the first time in-person since 2019, the Ethernet Alliance is bringing back the Technology Exploration Forum (TEF). TEF 2024: Ethernet in the Age of AI is slated for October 22-23, 2024 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. The forum will serve as an industry-wide deep dive into all things Ethernet and AI-related.
As Ethernet Alliance advisor and Board of Directors member, John D’Ambrosia, shared in a recent blog, “The computational power required to train the largest AI models continues to grow at a staggering rate. In 2018, OpenAI noted that this processing power had been doubling every 3.4 months since 2012. High performance networking will play an integral part in helping industry satisfy this appetite for processing power.”
Yet, for a total “Ethernet-based” solution to address future network demands for AI workloads, Ethernet must contend with the unique demands of each individual network. TEF 2024 will provide a much needed platform for vital conversations that will resonate across the whole of the Ethernet industry.
Unleash Your Ideas: TEF Call for Presentations Now Open
The intersection of Ethernet and AI needs further exploration and dialog, and you’re invited to be part of this vital discussion. The TEF 2024 call for presentations is open and accepting presentations on a diverse topics ranging from topology and architecture to latency to energy efficiency. To view proposed topics, please visit the TEF website. Please email proposals to TEF@ethernetalliance.org no later than July 22, 2024.
Get Plugged In – Power Play
In 2024, the Ethernet Alliance Power over Ethernet (PoE) Committee conducted a survey assessing the state of the PoE market. The resulting infographic shares related insights, illustrating where PoE challenges still exist. In EC&M’s recent Power Play article, Tim Kridel analyzed the survey results and infographic, and spoke with Ethernet Alliance member Chad Jones of Cisco, and Ethernet Alliance PoE Subcommittee Chair David Tremblay of HPE about the role of PoE in new lighting options. The article also illustrates how the Ethernet Alliance PoE Certification Program can help reduce interoperability issues arising during installation.
Unlocking 800G – From the Lab to the Real World
Amid a surge of announcements about 800G, it might seem like the technology is fully developed but there’s still a ways to go. In this guest blog, 800G – From Lab/Evaluation to Field Deployment, Ethernet Alliance member VeEX explains the important role multi-vendor interoperability testing will play as 800G deployments accelerate.
Author Ildefonso M. Polo notes, “With the introduction of various 800G versions (e.g., 2x400G, 8x100G) and the rise of data-intensive applications like AI/ML/LLM and augmented reality, the scale of devices, ports, and links requiring verification, testing, and troubleshooting grows exponentially, extending beyond the few initial R&D and evaluation labs to lots of geographically dispersed locations.” The post offers an interesting and informative read.
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