Table of Contents:

Definition and Overview

1. Technology

2. History

3. Optical Ethernet Today

4. Recent Trends

5. Future Expectations

Self-Test

Glossary

PDF of this tutorial

1000BASE–LX
Gigabit Ethernet on 2-km multimode or 10-km single-mode fiber at 1310 nm (long wavelength)

1000BASE–SX
Gigabit Ethernet on 2-km multimode fiber at 850 nm (short wavelength)

1000BASE–T
Gigabit Ethernet on 30-meter loops of unshielded twisted pair copper

100BASE–FX
100-Megabit Ethernet on 2-km multimode or 10km single-mode fiber-optic cables at 1310 nm

100BASE–SX
100-Megabit Ethernet on 2-km multimode fiber-optic cables at 850 nm

100BASE–T
100-Megabit Ethernet on 200-meter loops of unshielded twisted pair copper

10BASE–2
10-Megabit Ethernet on 200-meter segments of thin coaxial cable

10BASE–5
10-Megabit Ethernet on 500-meter segments of coaxial cable

10BASE–FL
10-Megabit Ethernet on 2-km multimode fiber-optic cables at 850 nm

10BASE–T
10-Megabit Ethernet on 200-meter loops of unshielded twisted pair copper

CAN
campus-area network

Cat 5
Category 5 unshielded twisted pair copper

CATV
cable television

CSMA/CD
carrier sense multiple access with collision detection

DWDM
dense wavelength division multiplexing

FDDI
fiber distributed data interface

fiber channel
a high-speed fiber-optic technology for storage networks

FTTB
fiber-to-the-business

FTTH
fiber-to-the-home

GBIC
gigabit interface converter

GMII
gigabit media independent interface

IXC
interexchange carrier

LAN
local-area network

LEC
local-exchange carrier

LMSC
Local-Area Network/Metropolitan-Area Network Standards Committee

MAC
media access control

MAC address
a globally unique 48-bit–device address used by all Ethernet nodes

MAN
metropolitan-area network

MII
media independent interface

mini–GBIC
a small form-factor version of the GBIC, also known as small form-factor plugable (SFP)

OC–192
a SONET transport with the optical carrier at 9.953 gigabits per second

POS
packet over SONET

RPR
resilient packet ring

SOHO
small office/home office

SONET
synchronous optical network

TCP/IP
transmission control protocol/Internet protocol

TDM
time division multiplexing

UTP
unshielded twisted pair

VLAN
virtual local-area network

WAN
wide-area network

WDM
wavelength division multiplexing