Terabit Ethernet

Terabit Ethernet or TbE is used to describe speeds of Ethernet above 100 Gbit/s. As of 2016^[update], 400 Gigabit Ethernet (400G, 400GbE) and 200 Gigabit Ethernet (200G, 200GbE) standards are planned for official release by the IEEE P802.3cd Task Force in December 2017, using broadly similar technology to 100 Gigabit Ethernet, but 1 Terabit Ethernet is not. In 2016, several networking equipment suppliers were already offering proprietary solutions for 200G and 400G.

There's currently no IEEE roadmap beyond 400G — “sometime after 2020” — but doubling to 800 GbE is expected to occur when single-lane 100 GbE links become available. This technology might also allow larger lane bundles, possibly providing 1 TbE or 1.6 TbE links with 10 or 16 lanes.

Facebook and Google, among other companies, have expressed a need for TbE. While a speed of 400 Gbit/s is achievable with existing technology, 1 Tbit/s (1000 Gbit/s) would require different technology. Accordingly, at the IEEE Industry Connections Higher Speed Ethernet Consensus group meeting in 2012 September, 400 GbE was chosen as the next generation goal. Additional 200GbE objectives were added in January 2016.

The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) attracted help from Agilent Technologies, Google, Intel, Rockwell Collins, and Verizon Communications to help with research into next generation Ethernet.

As of early 2016, chassis/modular based core router platforms from Cisco, Juniper and other major manufacturers support 400 Gbit/s full duplex data rates per slot. One, two and four port 100GbE line cards are presently available, with 200GbE and 400GbE expected to become available after standard ratification.

The IEEE formed the "IEEE 802.3 Industry Connections Ethernet Bandwidth Assessment Ad Hoc", to investigate the business needs for short and long term bandwidth requirements.

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