The Ethernet Alliance and the Road to 100G Alliance has announced plans for the latter to merge into the former, uniting two industry organizations that help promote and advance high-performance Ethernet networking.
Bill Weisinger, chairman of the Road to 100G Alliance, said that after having met and understanding the challenges of developing 100G platforms, the group found that "it is the right time for us to join with the Ethernet Alliance and fulfill the balance of our goal: to establish a comprehensive ecosystem of suppliers and users to accelerate the adoption and ongoing development of high-performance networking solutions.'
Brad Booth, chairman of the Ethernet Alliance, said that the demand for bandwidth is growing in every market segment - from consumer to enterprise to service and content providers. "Given the alignment of our visions and strategies, the combination of our two organizations will greatly advance the development of the high-speed Ethernet ecosystem, benefiting customers worldwide."
In November 2007, the IEEE 802.3 working group authorized the formation of the IEEE P802.3ba task force to begin work on a draft standard for 40 Gigabit and 100 Gigabit Ethernet. The task force has completed the review of the first draft of the standard, which is on track for ratification by mid-2010.