Geoff,
You know me - I like analogies;
I seem to remember using airplanes as an example during the development
of 10GbE, something like comparing 747s to regional jets. I also like
automobiles so let give you my take on where we are at as it relates to
802.3ba.
I agree that the bulk of
automobile product line only has 5 passenger capacity. However, how
many cars will you see this morning on the way to work will have five
people in them? Very few - most will have one and some will have two.
Using the 802.3ba philosophy, we would standardize a two-seater since
that is what the majority of the market needs. We would ignore the
typical sedan which gives broader market coverage at maybe, just maybe
a small premium. I view the XR variant as the typical sedan.
We have an objective for
Scooters - 10m of copper - just get me from here to there at the lowest
cost
We have an objective for a Smart
car - 100m of MMF - good enough for most commuters
We have an objective for a
Greyhound bus - 10km of SMF
We have an objective for a
turbo-charged Greyhound bus (or a John Madden luxury liner or a 747) -
40km of SMF)
But we have ignored the family
sedan that provides broader coverage at a reasonable cost. Our argument
is that it is not large enough or doesn't warrant the extra cost. I see
10-20% of a lot of ports as much, much bigger than 100% of hardly any
ports (albeit expensive ones). I don't hear anyone talking about how
small the 40km SMF market is.
I still don't get it.
Best regards,
Steve
At 06:35 PM 8/25/2008 , Swanson, Steven E wrote:
What should we tell our customers who have link lengths
longer than 100m and want (or require) a standardized solution?
We should tell them the same thing that we tell our twisted pair
customers.
That would be that their market is not large enough to:
- Warrant a separate solution in the standard.
- Burden the 100 meter solution with the extra costs required to meet
their needs
There is nothing terrible or onorous about this. A line has to be drawn
for all volume products. For passenger automobiles, the standard is
clearly 5 passengers. Does a car salesman have to make excuses that the
bulk of his product line only has a 5 passenger capacity? Of course
not. Do some car companies think they can make money with larger
vehicles? Of course.