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Re: [STDS-802-3-25G] Thoughts from today's ad hoc



Hey Dan,

Oh, I fully understand their argument. It's much simpler to write a really well-constrained specification.

What I think is different is our understanding of the customer. :-)

Cheers,
Brad


On Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 2:44 PM, Dan Dove <dan.dove@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Brad,

I think the counter argument goes like this...

If you have only a single instance in the market called "25GBASE-CR", and it allows someone to build a product that supports only 3m cables (does not advertise 5m capability), a customer will purchase a bunch of switches, 5m cables, 3m cables, and servers, all from different suppliers, plug them all together..double checking to make sure they are all "25GBASE-CR", then discover that some combinations of products don't talk to each other.

They scratch their heads, look for details on what the common modes of failure are, then come to a conclusion that only supplier X switches, and supplier Z NICs, and 5m cables are problematic. supplier Y's stuff is working with all cables. They go to supplier X and supplier Z, explain their problem, and those suppliers say "We are compliant to the standard, but don't support 5m cables".

What!?!?

"Oh ya, the RS-FEC required to support 5m cables was optional, and because it added X% to the die, our chip supplier left it out of the design to save cost and power...but we are still compliant!"

Clearly that doesn't work out well.

I see the challenge as this;

If there is no significant cost/power/die/etc impact of supporting 5m over 3m, then we should have a single "25GBASE-CR" standard and mandate support for all cable lengths. Deciding not to support RS-FEC would be an option for applications with shorter cables to reduce latency, but only an option to use, not an option to include in the implementation.

If there IS a significant cost/power/die/etc impact of supporting 5m over 3m, we have to consider whether that additional cost/power/die/etc will burden markets that want optimum cost/power/die/etc and don't need 5m. If yes, then we should have two specs (CR-L and CR-S) to allow market optimization. If not, then we force the market to accept one-size-fits-all.



To be frank, I have no preference in where we end up, but do wish to see the key questions answered with sufficient data to make the right decision.

Dan Dove
Chief Consultant
Dove Networking Solutions
530-906-3683 - Mobile
On 2/18/15 2:05 PM, Brad Booth wrote:
I want to say thanks to Jeff for listing some of the options the task force can consider for auto-negotiation. All the options presented by Jeff and Eric could be specified in the draft standard.

I'd like to provide some clarification on my opposition to using -L and -S options. The primary concern I have is reflected in statements some people have made in justifying the -L and -S options. In my humble opinion, the -L and -S options push the draft standard towards being an implementation specification and permitting folks to market their devices as either -L or -S compliant. This could create a potential bifurcation of the market; hence my request for those supporting a -L and -S option to provide information on the broad market potential.

As an example of auto-negotiation not used in as an implementation specification, let's look at 1G. There is a load of information that is exchanged during auto-negotiation. In 1000BASE-X, AN exchanges pause and duplex information. In 1000BASE-T, even more information is exchanged like master-slave, etc. What is important to understand in the operation of these devices, a management entity assists with the establishment of the link. If a 1000BASE-SX local device only indicates half duplex and its 1000BASE-SX link partner only indicates full duplex, then AN will signal to the management entity that the link cannot be established. The half duplex device is not labeled a 1000BASE-SX-H device and the other is not labeled a 1000BASE-SX-F device; those labels would be an implementation option. The management entity could decide that either these devices can never talk, or that auto-negotiation needs to be restarted with a different exchange of capabilities.

That's what worries me about using -L and -S in AN and tying it to the port type or maximum cable assembly length. That's an implementation. And honestly, -L and -S starts to sound like marketing terms and not technically justified terms. Permitting AN to exchange capabilities and preferred modes of operation (no -L or  -S option) really does provide the greatest flexibility for implementations in the market.

Thanks,
Brad