Dan,
We have a serious MARKETING PROBLEM HERE. No mention in a very important and prominent news release about *THE* GE alliance. Where's MRVC's name? Don't any small companies know how to do marketing? This is absurd. If you know someone at MRV, you might let them know they missed a big opportunity for some important press!!
If this is about their business, then they must be a part of this alliance. What do you think happened here?
________________________________________________________________
Gigabit Ethernet Alliance to Demonstrate Gigabit Ethernet Technology from Multiple Member Companies for the First Time at NetWorld+Interop; "Birds of a Feather" Session
at Show Will Highlight Gigabit Ethernet
Business Wire - April 29, 1997 08:10
FINANCIAL GIGABIT-ETHERNET CALIFORNIA COMPUTERS ELECTRONICS COMED
INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA INTERNET TRADESHOW V%BW P%BW
CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 29, 1997--The Gigabit Ethernet Alliance
today announced that it will sponsor the first Gigabit Ethernet technology demonstration
from multiple member companies at the upcoming NetWorld+Interop show in Las Vegas.
The demonstration will take place May 6-8 within the Alliance booth No. 5317.
Additionally, the Alliance will hold an in-depth discussion on Gigabit Ethernet technology
at a "Birds of a Feather" session to be held at the show on Wednesday evening, May 7th.
The technology demonstration, which will be comprised of products from Alliance member
companies, will illustrate the various environments in which Gigabit Ethernet can be
applied in production networks. Products from 27 member companies will be available in
the Alliance booth; a subset of these participants have also worked together to build the
multi-vendor Gigabit network that will be seen at the show. Demonstration participants
have conducted a large number of one-on-one and small group tests in preparation for the
demonstration.
"The Gigabit Ethernet technology demonstration at Interop is a leading indication of how
quickly the technology will be implemented," said Bob Grow, Gigabit Ethernet Alliance
team leader for the demo. "Consider the following facts gathered at the `hot stage' testing:
nine MAC technologies successfully passed packets between systems; over 20
companies participated in the `hot stage' with operating equipment; and there have been
dozens of one-on-one and small group tests prior to the hot-staging. The ability to
accomplish all this prior to completion of a standard emphasizes two important features of
the technology: one, the value in starting with a proven and familiar networking technology
such as Ethernet; two, that the basic features that were selected for Gigabit Ethernet are
stable."
Participants will show a broad range of Gigabit Ethernet product types. Network equipment
to be demonstrated will illustrate switching between Gigabit Ethernet LAN segments and
between Gigabit Ethernet, FDDI, Fast Ethernet and Ethernet LAN segments. A number of
participants will demonstrate Buffered Distributors which provide shared Gigabit Ethernet
access through full-duplex links. Gigabit Ethernet-connected servers, PCs and
workstations will further illustrate the ways in which the technology can be widely applied
in user networks. In addition, demo participants will exhibit components used to
implement Gigabit Ethernet products, as well as test equipment specifically targeted for
Gigabit Ethernet systems. The demonstration will be the first opportunity to view Gigabit
Ethernet products, some of which are available for immediate shipment by participating
Alliance member companies.
Equipment used in the demonstration will be interconnected via 1000BASE-SX, one of the
physical layer options described in 802.3z/D2, the current draft for Gigabit Ethernet.
1000BASE-SX uses component technology originally developed for Fibre Channel. This
includes the 8B/10B encoding of information and the use of short wavelength laser optical
transceivers.
"The technology demonstration at NetWorld+Interop is an important first step in one of the
underlying Alliance principles: to further the development of Gigabit Ethernet equipment by
facilitating interoperability testing, thus reducing the risk for end-user adoption," said Tony
Lee, chairman of the Alliance. "This demo will show that the technology is real and that
products are on their way. Clearly, Gigabit Ethernet is emerging as a strategic alternative
for network backbones that support mission critical applications."
The Gigabit Ethernet Alliance is also supporting the work undertaken by IP Multicast
Initiative (IPMI) in bringing MULTICAST LIVE! to the NetWorld+Interop show. IPMI is a
group of networking vendors, service and content providers, broadcast and satellite
companies, public institutions and IT organizations, formed to speed the adoption of native
IETF standards-based IP Multicast. MULTICAST LIVE! is an educational program featuring
industry experts telling the story of IP Multicast, why it is important today and how it can
be deployed in networks. The Alliance is making the program available via IP Multicast in
high-quality video format at over 20 of the vendor demonstration areas in its booth.
In addition, the Alliance will sponsor a "Birds of a Feather" (BOF) session, entitled Gigabit
Ethernet and High-Speed LAN Technologies, at the show. A panel of Alliance member
representatives from Cisco Systems, Extreme Networks, Hewlett-Packard and XLNT will
hold an in-depth discussion on issues relating to the Gigabit Ethernet standard process
and implementation, as well as availability and basic interoperability of the technology and
its applications. The BOF will take place on Wednesday, May 7th, from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m.
in the Las Vegas Hilton, Pavilion 6.
Alliance Booth Participants
Alliance member companies demonstrating products in the booth are: 3Com, Acacia
Networks, Adaptec, Alteon Networks, Bay Networks, Cabletron Systems, Cisco Systems,
Compaq, Essential Communications, Extreme Networks, Foundry Networks, GigaLabs,
Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, NBase, Netcom Systems, Network Appliances, Packet
Engines, PlainTree Systems, Prominet Corp., Rapid City Communications, Silicon
Graphics, Sun Microsystems, Vitesse Semiconductor, WideBand Corp. and XLNT.
New Alliance Members
The combined Alliance membership already comprises many of the most prominent
companies in the networking, computer, component and test equipment industry
segments. Total membership in the Alliance continues to grow. New members include:
3M, Acclaim Communications, Applied Micro Circuits Corporation, Boston Optical Fiber,
Inc., ComCore Semiconductor, Inc., Corning Inc., E.T.R.I., Honeywell, Rockwell
Semiconductor, Silicon Image, Inc., Winbond Electronics Corp. and Xyratex.
Standards Progress and Timeline
In keeping with the current aggressive schedule for standardization of Gigabit Ethernet, the
next meeting of the IEEE 802.3z Task Force will take place in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida,
from May 14-16, 1997, to continue the work of refining technical details. Between March
and July, 1997, the Task Force will work to ensure that the specification is complete and
ready for the ballot process. The goal for completion of the standard is during the first
quarter of 1998.
About the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance
The Gigabit Ethernet Alliance, founded in May, 1996, was formalized around four common
objectives -- to fully support the Gigabit Ethernet standards activities being conducted in
the IEEE 802.3z and 802.3ab Task Forces, to contribute technical resources to facilitate
convergence and consensus on technical specifications, to provide resources to establish
and demonstrate product interoperability, and to foster two-way communications between
potential suppliers and consumers of Gigabit Ethernet products.
This multi-vendor vendor effort is committed to providing customers with open,
cost-effective and interoperable Gigabit Ethernet solutions, and it supports the CSMA/CD
(Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection) protocol of the original Ethernet
standard. To date, representatives from over 110 networking, computer, component and
test equipment companies are participating in the Gigabit Ethernet standards activities.
The Gigabit Ethernet Alliance headquarters is located in Cupertino, Calif. Telephone:
408-241-8904, Fax: 408-241-8918, Email: 73530.2267@compuserve.com, Web Site:
www.gigabit-ethernet.org .
CONTACT: Marilyn Callaghan, 415/342-6087
mcallagh@pacbell.net
or
Slider & Associates
Susan Lider, 415/321-2084
susan_lider@earthlink.net
REPEATS: New York 212-752-9600 or 800-221-2462; Boston 617-236-4266 or
800-225-2030; SF 415-986-4422 or 800-227-0845; LA 310-820-9473
Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet
with Hyperlinks to your home page.
URL: businesswire.com
|
