[802.3_DIALOG] March 2026 plenary meeting announcement

["Law, David" <0000363ca596b6f2-dmarc-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Colleagues,

IEEE 802.3 will hold its March 2026 plenary session from Monday, 9 March 2026, through Thursday, 12 March 2026. The plenary session will be held at the Hyatt Regency, Vancouver, BC, Canada, with support for mixed-mode attendance (i.e., remote attendance). Please note that the meetings are being planned around an in-person schedule, with remote access provided on a best-effort basis.

The IEEE 802.3 Working Group opening plenary meeting will begin at 10h15 PDT (UTC -7) on Monday, 9 March 2026, and the IEEE 802.3 Working Group closing plenary meeting will start at 13h15 PDT on Thursday, 12 March 2026. I will provide the IEEE 802.3 Working Group opening and closing plenary meeting call information and calendar invitations shortly. IEEE 802.3 Subgroup meetings will be scheduled between the IEEE 802.3 Working Group opening and closing plenary meetings. Please always check <https://ieee802.org/3/calendar.html> for the most up-to-date information.

The IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee session announcement, registration and current hotel information can be found through the 'Next IEEE 802.3 meeting notice' link <https://www.ieee802.org/3/interims/index.html>. To receive email updates and reminders for the plenary sessions, subscribe to the stds-802-ALL reflector <https://listserv.ieee.org/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=stds-802-ALL&A=1>. Payment of a registration fee is REQUIRED BY ANYONE WHO ATTENDS ANY MEETING, IN PERSON OR REMOTE, held during this plenary session. The registration website can be accessed directly at <https://cvent.me/4mQvrl>.

The draft agendas, as well as liaison letters received so far, are available in the meeting minutes area <https://www.ieee802.org/3/minutes/mar26/index.html> and will be updated as required before the meeting. The agenda will be approved at the meeting. Several Working Group decisions are expected during the IEEE 802.3 meetings (most during the Thursday Closing plenary meetings). Depending on the amount of discussion, IEEE 802.3 WG meetings may run beyond their target ending times, so please plan your time accordingly.

Subclause 4.1 'Attendance at Meetings' of the IEEE 802 LMSC Working Group Policies and Procedures says that 'A participant shall attend at least 75% of a meeting slot's duration ...' and satisfy any registration requirements to gain 'Credited Attendance' at that meeting slot. It then goes on to say that 'A participant that has Credited Attendance in at least 75% of the meeting slots in a Session has Session Attendance Credit for that Session.'. A participant requires Session Attendance Credit at two of the last four plenary sessions, with the ability to substitute one credited interim session for one plenary session, to gain or retain IEEE 802.3 voting membership.

As has always been our practice, there will only be an opportunity to gain Credited Attendance on Monday during the IEEE 802.3 Working Group opening plenary, one slot, and on Thursday at the IEEE 802.3 Working Group closing plenary meeting, two slots. This, combined with four slots on Tuesday and Wednesday, will result in a total of eleven meeting slots where there is an opportunity to gain Credited Attendance during the plenary session. A participant must, therefore, gain Credited Attendance at a minimum of nine meeting slots (at least 75% of eleven) to obtain Session Attendance Credit towards gaining or retaining IEEE 802.3 voting membership.

At a high level, this will require attendance at a minimum of any three days out of the four-day Plenary Session, but the requirement to gain Credited Attendance at a minimum of 75% of the meeting slots of the Plenary Session can be achieved in any way a participant chooses. This, for example, could be achieved by attending the IEEE 802.3 Working Group opening plenary slot on Monday morning, all four meeting slots on Tuesday, two meeting slots on Wednesday, and then the two IEEE 802.3 Working Group closing plenary slots on Thursday afternoon. IEEE 802.3 and IEEE 802.1 will offer reciprocal credit during this plenary session. Reciprocal credit is limited to a maximum of 4 slots.

Any request to retrospectively add attendance in IMAT shall be made to the IEEE 802.3 Recording Secretary within four hours of the end of the respective IMAT meeting slot and accompanied by confirmation of attendance from the respective meeting Chair or other officer. If you attend a meeting but do not sign in to an IMAT meeting slot for some reason (e.g., you do not attend at least 75% of a meeting slot's duration), it is your responsibility to ensure your attendance is recorded in the respective meeting minutes by sending an email to the respective meeting chair.

I look forward to seeing you in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

David Law
  Chair, IEEE 802.3 Working Group
  mailto:david_law@xxxxxxxx
  +44 1631 563729


IEEE 802.3 Business
-------------------

Working Group Home page: <http://www.ieee802.org/3/index.html>

In addition to regular Working Group business, there will be subgroup business based on the status below, as well as two Calls for Interest. As this is the first plenary session of an even-numbered year, Chair and Vice-Chair elections will take place during the IEEE 802.3 Closing Plenary meeting on Thursday, 12 March 2026 <https://www.ieee802.org/3/minutes/nov25/1125_802_3_closing_plenary.pdf#page=32>.

IEEE 802.3 Maintenance Task Force
---------------------------------

Task Force Home page: <http://www.ieee802.org/3/maint/index.html>

The IEEE 802.3 Maintenance Task Force will not be meeting during the plenary session due to overlapping time commitments of potential attendees. Instead, the IEEE 802.3 Maintenance Task Force will hold teleconference meeting(s), as necessary.

Questions about the Task Force can be addressed to the Task Force Chair, Mr Adam Healey.


IEEE P802.3da 10 Mb/s Single Pair Multidrop Segments Enhancement Task Force
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Task Force home page: <http://ieee802.org/3/da/index.html>

IEEE P802.3da Draft 3.3 was recommended for approval as an IEEE Standard by RevCom at its meeting on Wednesday, 28 January 2026. The IEEE SA Standards Board is currently conducting a 10-day email ballot of the recommendations from that meeting, and if this recommendation is approved, IEEE 802.3da will become an IEEE Standard. If that is the case, the IEEE P802.3da Task Force will be complete.

Questions about the Task Force can be addressed to the Task Force Chair, Mr Chad Jones.


IEEE P802.3dg 100 Mb/s Long-Reach Single Pair Ethernet Task Force
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Task Force home page: <http://ieee802.org/3/dg/index.html>

The IEEE P802.3dg Task Force will consider comments received during the initial Standards Association ballot of IEEE P802.3dg draft D3.0, which will close before the plenary session.

Questions about the Task Force can be addressed to the Task Force Chair, Mr George Zimmerman.


IEEE P802.3dj 200 Gb/s, 400 Gb/s, 800 Gb/s, and 1.6 Tb/s Ethernet Task Force
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Task Force home page: <https://ieee802.org/3/dj/index.html>

The IEEE P802.3dj Task Force plans to progress IEEE P802.3dj draft D3.0 to initial Standards Association ballot before the plenary session. As a result, the IEEE P802.3dj Task Force expects to meet during the plenary session to build consensus on potential areas of comment during the initial Standards Association ballot.

Questions about the Task Force can be addressed to the Task Force Chair, Mr John D'Ambrosia.


IEEE P802.3dk Greater than 50 Gb/s Bidirectional Optical Access PHYs Task Force
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Task Force home page: <https://ieee802.org/3/dk/index.html>

The 4th Standards Association recirculation ballot of IEEE P802.3dk draft D3.4 closed successfully on 29 January 2026. The ballot received 100% approval, and the commenter subsequently withdrew the one submitted comment. Since the submission deadline for the March 2026 RevCom meeting occurs before the date of the March IEEE 802 EC meeting, IEEE 802.3dk is seeking approval to pre-submit the IEEE P802.3dk draft D3.4 to RevCom and then seek approval to keep the submittal on the RevCom agenda during the March IEEE 802 plenary session.

Questions about the Task Force can be addressed to the Task Force Chair, Ms Yuanqiu Luo.


IEEE P802.3dm Asymmetrical Electrical Automotive Ethernet Task Force
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Task Force home page: <https://ieee802.org/3/dm/index.html>

The IEEE P802.3dm Task Force is working on the selection of a set of baseline proposals to satisfy the project objectives, progressing towards a technically complete draft for Working Group ballot.

Questions about the Task Force can be addressed to the Task Force Chair, Ms Natalie Wienckowski.


IEEE P802.3dp Cabling Restrictions for Single Pair Power over Ethernet Task Force
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Task Force home page: <https://ieee802.org/3/dp/index.html>

The IEEE P802.3dp Task Force is working on the selection of a set of baseline proposals to satisfy the project objectives, progressing towards a technically complete draft for Working Group ballot.

The IEEE P802.3dp Task Force is not planning to meet during the plenary session.

Questions about the Task Force can be addressed to the Task Force Chair, Mr Chad Jones.


IEEE P802.3dq Pin-Optimized PHY Interface Task Force
----------------------------------------------------

Task Force home page: <https://ieee802.org/3/dp/index.html>

The IEEE P802.3dq Task Force is working on the selection of a set of baseline proposals to satisfy the project objectives, progressing towards a technically complete draft for Working Group ballot. The IEEE P802.3dq Task Force is not planning to meet during the plenary session.

Questions about the Task Force can be addressed to the Task Force Chair, Mr Jason Potterf.


IEEE P802.3-2022/Cor 2 (IEEE 802.3dr) Optical Automotive Ethernet TDFOM Task Force
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Task Force home page: <https://www.ieee802.org/3/dr/index.html>

The IEEE P802.3-2022/Cor 2 (IEEE 802.3dr) Task Force plans to progress IEEE P802.3-2022/Cor 2 (IEEE 802.3dr) draft D3.0 to initial Standards Association ballot before the plenary session. As a result, the IEEE P802.3-2022/Cor 2 (IEEE 802.3dr) Task Force does not plan to meet during the plenary session.

Questions about the Task Force can be addressed to the Task Force Chair, Mr Luisma Torres.


IEEE P802.3ds 200 Gb/s per Wavelength MMF PHYs Task Force
---------------------------------------------------------

Task Force home page: <https://www.ieee802.org/3/ds/index.html>

The IEEE P802.3ds Task Force is working on the selection of a set of baseline proposals to satisfy the project objectives, progressing towards a technically complete draft for Working Group ballot.

Questions about the Task Force can be addressed to the Task Force Chair, Mr Mabud Choudhury.


IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Metadata Services Study Group
-------------------------------------------------

Study Group home page: <https://www.ieee802.org/3/EMS/index.html>

The IEEE P802.3dt Ethernet Metadata Services PAR was recommended for approval by NesCom at its meeting on Wednesday, 28 January 2026. The IEEE SA Standards Board is currently conducting a 10-day email ballot of the recommendations from that meeting, and if this recommendation is approved, the work of the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Metadata Services Study Group is complete, and the IEEE P802.3dt Ethernet Metadata Services Task Force will be formed.

As a result, the IEEE P802.3dt Ethernet Metadata Services Task Force is expected to hold its first meeting during the plenary session. The first order of business will be the confirmation of the Chair. The Task Force will then start the process of selecting a set of baseline proposals to satisfy the project objectives.

Questions about the Task Force can be addressed to the Task Force Chair Pro Tem, Mr David Ofelt.


IEEE 802.3 Power Distribution Coordinating Committee (PDCC) Ad Hoc
------------------------------------------------------------------

Ad Hoc home page: <https://ieee802.org/3/ad_hoc/PDCC/index.html>

IEEE 802.3 Power Distribution Coordinating Committee Ad Hoc is chartered to review output and build consensus on input for liaisons regarding power delivery over cabling cited in IEEE 802.3 standards and projects.

IEEE 802.3 Power Distribution Coordinating Committee Ad Hoc is not planning to meet during the plenary session.

Questions about the Ad Hoc can be addressed to the Ad Hoc Chair, Mr Chad Jones.


IEEE 802.3 New Ethernet Applications (NEA) Industry Connections Ad Hoc
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ad Hoc home page: <http://www.ieee802.org/3/ad_hoc/ngrates/index.html>

The IEEE 802.3 New Ethernet Applications Industry Connections Ad Hoc is chartered to support the work under the New Ethernet Applications Industry Connections Activity Initiation Document (ICAID).

The IEEE 802.3 New Ethernet Applications Industry Connections Ad Hoc is not planning to meet during the plenary session.

Questions about the Ad Hoc can be addressed to the Ad Hoc Chair, Mr Jon Lewis.


IEEE 802.3 COM Open Source Ad Hoc
---------------------------------

Ad Hoc home page: <https://www.ieee802.org/3/ad_hoc/COM/index.html>

The IEEE 802.3 COM Open Source Ad Hoc is chartered to support the work under the IEEE 802.3 Channel Operating Margin (COM) Tier 3 open source project. 

The IEEE 802.3 COM Open Source Ad Hoc is not planning to meet during the plenary session.

Questions about the Ad Hoc can be addressed to the Ad Hoc Chair, Mr Howard Heck.


IEEE 802.3 YANG Open Source Ad Hoc
----------------------------------

Ad Hoc home page: <https://www.ieee802.org/3/ad_hoc/YANGOS/index.html>

The IEEE 802.3 YANG Open Source Ad Hoc is chartered to support the work under the IEEE 802.3 YANG Tier 3 open source project. 

The IEEE 802.3 YANG Open Source Ad Hoc is not planning to meet during the plenary session.

Questions about the Ad Hoc can be addressed to the Ad Hoc Chair, Mr Peter Jones.


400Gb/s/lane Signalling call for interest
-----------------------------------------

CFI page: <http://www.ieee802.org/3/cfi/request_0326_1.html>

The following request for agenda time for a 400Gb/s/lane Signalling call for interest has been received from Kent Lusted.

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With the rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and technology, there is a desire to use Ethernet in high-bandwidth, high-growth AI cluster networks, as well as traditional front-end networks for server and switch attachment.  The Ethernet community must quickly respond to support the AI network time-to-market requirements and use cases.  A number of technology improvements should be investigated to increase the per-lane signaling rate of electrical and optical Ethernet interconnects for the radix-optimized connectivity essential for communication between the high-performance compute devices and intermediate network switch devices.

This call for interest is to initiate a Study Group to develop a Project Authorization Request (PAR) and Criteria for Standards Development (CSD) for Physical Layer specifications supporting existing Ethernet rates using 400 Gbps-per-lane signaling for electrical interconnects as well as optical interconnects with reaches of up to 500 meters.

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The call for interest will take place during the IEEE 802.3 Opening Plenary on the morning of Monday, 9 March 2026. A call for interest consensus-building meeting will be scheduled to occur during the week. The vote to determine if a Study Group will be formed will take place at the IEEE 802.3 Closing Plenary on the afternoon of Thursday, 12 March 2026.


Fault-Managed Power Ethernet powering techniques call for interest 
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CFI page: <http://www.ieee802.org/3/cfi/request_0326_2.html>

The following request for agenda time for a Fault-Managed Power Ethernet powering technique call for interest has been received from Chad Jones.

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Providing power along with Ethernet data via Power Over Ethernet (PoE) has fueled an expansion of networked devices and an ever-increasing demand for more power. PoE was specified such that it could comply with IEC 60950-1 (now IEC 62368-1) Limited Power Source (LPS) requirements, which align with Class 2 requirements in NFPA 70 (National Electrical Code). Recent developments in fault detection methods enable power delivery at higher voltages with techniques that limit energy into a fault, known as Fault Managed Power (FMP), which aligns with Class 4 power in NFPA 70. The addition of FMP to Ethernet powering techniques, including potential modifications to Ethernet PHYs, enables greater power delivery, longer range, and increased efficiency for networked devices. This call for interest is to request the formation of a "Fault-Managed Power Ethernet powering techniques" study group.

----

The call for interest will take place during the IEEE 802.3 Opening Plenary on the morning of Monday, 9 March 2026. A call for interest consensus building meeting will be scheduled to occur during the week. The vote to determine if a Study Group will be formed will take place at the IEEE 802.3 Closing Plenary on the afternoon of Thursday, 12 March 2026.


IEEE 802.3 Rules
----------------

IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Working Group Operating Rules home page: <https://www.ieee802.org/3/rules/index.html>

A vote regarding accepting proposed revision 1-11/25 'Task Force Chair Pro Tem' <https://www.ieee802.org/3/minutes/nov25/1125_rules_open_report.pdf#page=10>, received before the start of the November 2025 plenary session, will take place at the IEEE 802.3 Closing Plenary on the afternoon of Thursday, 12 March 2026.

No additional rules change requests have been received at this time.


Project Authorization Requests (PARs) and Industry Connections Work Item proposals
==================================================================================

At the time of this announcement, no PARs have been submitted by other working groups for consideration at the plenary. If any are, comments are due by 18h30 PDT on Tuesday, 10 March 2026. An IEEE 802.3 PAR Review Ad Hoc meeting is planned from 15:00 to 16:00 UTC on 2 March 2026. If no PARs are submitted, this meeting will be cancelled.


IEEE 802 Tutorials
==================

No tutorials will take place during this plenary session.

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