Gigabit Ethernet Seeks a Boost

2.5-, 5G rates aim to keep pace with WiFi

Rick Merritt, EETimes
10/7/2014 06:15 PM EDT

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Gigabit Ethernet is gearing up for a midlife kicker.

Broadcom is leading a charge to create 2.5-Gigabit and 5-Gigabit standards for Ethernet to help keep pace with advances in WiFi. Trying to get ahead of the pack, Aquantia announced a family of physical-layer devices that support the faster data rates.

The new speeds fill a hole between today's Gigabit and 10G products, mainly targeting enterprise-class WiFi access devices. Today's emerging IEEE 802.11ac wireless connections can carry as much as a gigabit/second, threatening to overwhelm their wired Gbit Ethernet backhaul links.

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