In this episode of the Broadband Pulse, we talked to the Ethernet Alliance about the upcoming High-Speed Networking (HSN) Plugfest that will be held from December 8-12, 2025, at Keysight Technologies in Santa Clara, CA.
The Plugfest will feature interoperability testing for Ethernet devices ranging from 200GbE to 1.6TbE, covering various interconnects and transceivers. The event supports the transition to 200Gbps per lane, enabling breakthroughs in AI, cloud computing, and high-performance data centers.
Besides the Plugfest, the Ethernet Alliance is also hosting the TEF 2025: Ethernet for AI. Taking a page from the TEF 2024: Ethernet in the Age of AI event, held in October 2024, the new event will take a deeper exploration into 400 Gbps electrical and optical signaling in response to the industry’s need to address the growing demands of AI workloads.
During the podcast, we talked to two key members of the Ethernet Alliance:
- John D’Ambrosia, a Distinguished Engineer with the Datacom Standards Research team at Futurewei and Ethernet Alliance TEF Chair And
- Sam Johnson, HSN Subcommittee Chair for the Ethernet Alliance and manager of the Link Applications Engineering team within Intel’s Networking Solutions Group
Here’s a timeline of the episode:
Opening
0:03 Host introduces guests Broadband Pulse host Sean Buckley introduced John D’Ambrosia and Sam Johnson
1:08 Ethernet Alliance Plugfest event The details of the Ethernet Alliance’s High-Speed Networking (HSN) plugfest event in December at Keysight Technologies’ headquarters in Santa Clara, California.
5:16 200 Gbps per lane How 200G is the next building block speed in the evolution of Ethernet.
7:34 Seeing the potential in 1.6 Tbps The HSN interoperability tests will look at Ethernet devices ranging from 200GbE to 1.6TbE.
11:15 Coalescing around the Ethernet standard and the IEEE How vendors and the Ethernet industry are trying to find commonality.
12:14 TEF 2025: Ethernet For AI How the TEF 2025 for AI will address how to help the Ethernet industry address increased bandwidth, faster signaling, power delivery challenges, advanced packaging technologies, next-generation test equipment and methodologies, and new approaches to cooling.
15:05 AI networking based on 400Gbps signaling How the next generation of AI networking, based on 400 Gbps signaling, is likely to diverge significantly from today’s architectures.
19:14 Final Thoughts/Closing John D’Ambrosia and Sam Johnson give their final thoughts about the ongoing evolution of Ethernet.
About our guests: John D’Ambrosia, a Distinguished Engineer with the Datacom Standards Research team at Futurewei and Ethernet Alliance TEF Chair John D’Ambrosia is a Distinguished Engineer with the Datacom Standards Research team at Futurewei Technologies, a U.S. subsidiary of Huawei. John has over 25 years of experience supporting standards development. John is currently the chair of the IEEE P802.3dj 200 Gbps, 400 Gbps, 800 Gb/s, and 1.6 Tbps Task Force. Previously, John chaired the IEEE 802.3 Task Forces that developed 40 GbE and 100 GbE, 200 and 400 GbE, and 800 GbE. Additionally, he chaired other IEEE 802.3 task forces, as well as the IEEE 802.3 New Ethernet Applications Ad hoc. John is also a member of the IEEE 802 LAN / MAN Standards Committee and is an IEEE Senior Member. In addition to his multiple roles in IEEE 802, John is one of the founders of the Ethernet Alliance and served as Chairman from 2011 to 2019. John served as an advisor to the European Photonics Industry Consortium from 2019 to 2022c. His previous work experience includes Dell, Force10 Networks, and Tyco Electronics.
Sam Johnson, HSN Subcommittee Chair for the Ethernet Alliance and manager of the Link Applications Engineering team within Intel’s Networking Solutions Group Sam Johnson is an Engineering Manager with Intel Corporation, leading the Link Applications Engineering team within the Network and Edge Group. Sam started at Intel in 2010 with a focus on 10G Serial Ethernet debug and has built a career based on High Speed Serial Ethernet PHY and pluggable media behavior, configuration, and interoperability. He and his team work to define and develop the Ethernet hardware control infrastructure and to enable and support Intel customers' Ethernet solutions. Sam holds multiple patents related to Ethernet interoperability and is a co-chair of the High Speed Networking subcommittee within the Ethernet Alliance, with a focus on L1 protocol and interoperability testing. Outside of work, Sam enjoys spending time with his family, woodworking, and all forms of outdoor recreation.
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