The IEEE has finished work on the planned Gigabit Ethernet standard, a ten-fold speed upgrade to the fastest Ethernet currently available that’s been argued out by the 108 companies so far signed as members of the IEEE-sponsored Gigabit Ethernet Alliance. Dozens of companies are already rushing to bring to Gigabit Ethernet products to market, having banked on the specification’s final approval. The specification, technically 802.3z/D2 but likely to be more commonly known as 1000Base, has emerged with last-minute additions to cover network management. The finished standard is scheduled to be sent to an IEEE ballot in July, following an IEEE 802.3z Task Force meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida between May 14-16, to make sure all the details are in place. The next goal of the Gigabit Ethernet crowd is to hash out details of a specification to be known as 1000Base-T that lets Gigabit Ethernet work over the standard four-pair copper cabling commonly used for today’s 10/100Base-T Ethernet.
