[802.3ae] 10GbE: Plans for February/March; Outcome of Jan Interim Mtg
As many of you are aware by now, during last week's interim
meeting the IEEE P802.3ae Task Force decided to postpone recirculation of
the next Sponsor Ballot draft until after our February interim meeting
(watch http://www.ieee802.org/3/interims/index.html for forthcoming
information).
Comments against all clauses, except Clause 52, were
resolved at last week's meeting. Several comments were entered against
Clause 52 in regard to testability with existing optical test and
measurement equipment. We spent considerable time discussing this issue and
planning for resolution.
In short, the measurement error added by existing equipment
has a magnitude of equal order to the specification itself when using the
procedures outlined in draft D4.0. Representatives from Agilent Test and
Measurement showed us the results on their recent work to identify and
resolve the measurement issues. We anticipate that Agilent Test and
Measurement along with others will be continuing their investigation and
reporting in February.
Skipping the technical details, the key issue relates to:
1. the timing and availability of equipment to test
compliance to the specifications,
2. the cost of the testing to compliance, and
3. the percentage of false negatives (vs false positives).
All of which have impact on time to market and product cost.
During the meeting, the optics sub-task-force brainstormed
alternative test methods that might be substituted. These include replacing
the BER mask with a power vs. BER measurement and simplifying the stressed
receive signal generation along with the specification of a "golden"
receiver and transmitter. The PMD Serial Ad Hoc will be working to validate
and codify these methods for review at the February meeting.
There are a number of potential outcomes during the February
interim meeting. Ideally, the Task Force will review the results of the
several activities; modify the draft to incorporate the best resolutions to
the unresolved comments; and complete the comment review process against
Clause 52 (and, modify anything that waterfalls into Clause 53 or other
clauses). A number of open comments do not relate directly to test and
measurement. We will then publish draft D4.1 for review in March.
To expedite the overall process, we will soon publish a
change bar draft D4.01 (not D4.1) with the updated comment database for
review between now and February by the IEEE P802.3ae Task Force. This will
include approved comment resolutions, only. It will not be circulated to the
Sponsor Ballot Group nor to the 802.3 Working Group. If you have issues with
changes from D4.0 to D4.01, please contact the clause editor directly (or
our esteemed chief editor, Brad Booth). The editors will correct
misinterpretations or discrepancies to the draft D4.0 comment resolutions,
only. These will be incorporated into draft D4.1, which we will recirculate
to the Sponsor Ballot Group. We will review Sponsor Ballot Group comments
against draft D4.1 at the March plenary meeting, in St. Louis, MO.
Draft D4.01 will be published to the IEEE P802.3ae web site
in the password protected area.
Jonathan Thatcher
Chair, IEEE P802.3ae
Brad Booth
Chief Editor, IEEE P802.3ae