June 13, 2006 New York -- On June 8, 2006, the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Standards Board approved the IEEE P802.3an 10GBASE-T standard without opposition.
The IEEE 802.3an 10GBASE-T standard specifies 10-Gbit/sec data transmission over four-pair copper cabling. The maximum supported distance in the standard is a function of the cabling performance. The distance capability is limited by key performance parameters not characterized in the past, including alien crosstalk (PSANEXT and PSAELFEXT) as well as stable performance of traditional parameters to higher frequencies.
"Now that the 10GBASE-T standard is ratified, we expect the market for 10G-enabled twisted pair cabling to move quickly from early adopters to mass market as it has done in the past when 100-Mbit/sec and 1-Gbit/sec standards were ratified," contends Luc Adriaenssens, senior vice president of R&D and technology at CommScope, manufacturer of the IEEE 802.3an-compliant SYSTIMAX GigaSPEED X10D 10-Gbit/sec UTP copper cabling. "The cost reduction and power consumption curves are very steep for network electronics. As enterprises look back on how their bandwidth needs have grown and changed over time, they should look closely at what their bandwidth needs will be in the future with respect to investing in 10G-enabled twisted pair cabling."