Interested in Learning More?
If you are interested in learning more about Gigabit Ethernet, you can take
advantage of the following resources:
- The Gigabit Ethernet Alliance's World-Wide Web Site (http://www.gigabit-ethernet.org).
The Gigabit Ethernet Alliance is an organization of 120 vendors--such as 3Com
Corp., Cisco Systems Inc.,and Packet Engines Inc.--that promote the standardization
of Gigabit Ethernet. Once the standards process is completed, the alliance
may dissolve. For now, however, the alliance provides a single point of contact
for users who want information about Gigabit Ethernet. For example, at this
web site, you can read two Gigabit Ethernet white papers, one for the 802.3z
specification and one for the 802.3ab specification.
- The Web Sites for Cisco Systems (http://www.cisco.com),
3Com (http://www.3com.com), and Packet Engines
(http://www.packetengines.com).
Most vendors that participate in the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance have used their
web sites to post general information about Gigabit Ethernet as well as specific
information about their own Gigabit Ethernet products. In particular, Cisco
Systems, 3Com, and Packet Engines offer a lot of useful Gigabit Ethernet information
on their web sites.
- Spurgeon, Charles E., Practical Networking with Ethernet, International
Thomson Computer Press, Boston: 1997. This book is most helpful for users
who are new to networking. The book provides a thorough discussion about Ethernet
and Fast Ethernet and includes a relatively informative chapter on Gigabit
Ethernet. Spurgeon was limited to what he knew at the time: He wrote the book
when only Draft 2 of the 802.3z specification was available.
Some parts of the 802.3z specification were missing then, notably the conditioned
launch solution for 1000Base-SX and 1000Base-LX transceivers. The Gigabit
Ethernet Task Force had not yet encountered differential mode delay (DMD),
the problem that gave rise to the conditioned launch solution, when this book
went to press. (For more information about DMD and the conditioned launch
solution, see "The DMDelay.")