Physical layer strategies for 10 gigabit Ethernet

This paper reviews some of the options and key challenges that are currently being considered for local area network upgrades to operating speeds of 10 Gb/s, focussing on the 10 Gigabit Ethernet standard. In particular, technologies including serial, wavelength division multiplexing and parallel optics are discussed. In addition work being currently carried out on uncooled serial links at the University of Bristol is highlighted within this context. Finally, methods including subcarrier multiplexing and multilevel coding schemes are described that may also be suitable for high bandwidth computer interconnects.