The Emergence of 800G Ethernet: A New Standard in Networking

As the networking industry advances with innovations like Super Ethernet and high-speed data centers, the demand for faster, more efficient, and scalable solutions grows rapidly. In this context, 800G Ethernet emerges as a transformative technology, offering massive bandwidth improvements and enhanced energy efficiency. It is set to revolutionize communication networks, enabling cutting-edge applications like machine learning, and cloud services. The article delves into how 800G Ethernet supports future-proof scalability and lays the foundation for tomorrow’s hyperconnected world.

What is 800G Ethernet?

800G Ethernet is a high-speed Ethernet technology designed for data transmission and communication networks, delivering a data rate of 800 Gigabits per second (800Gbps). Doubling the speed of the previous 400G Ethernet, 800G Ethernet offers increased bandwidth and is primarily deployed in large data centers, cloud environments, and high-bandwidth applications. It provides enhanced throughput, higher rates, and improved network performance in these scenarios, enabling faster and more efficient data communications.

800G Ethernet operates using 8 channels, each transmitting at 100Gbps. This doubles the speed of the previous generation’s PAM4 signaling, which was 50Gbps per channel, now upgraded to 100Gbps.

The 800GbE specification introduces a new Media Access Control (MAC) and Physical Coding Sublayer (PCS). It essentially reuses two sets of existing 400GbE logic from the IEEE 802.3bs standard, with modifications to spread data across eight physical 106Gbps channels. By reusing the PCS, the standard RS(544, 514) forward error correction remains, ensuring compatibility with existing physical layer specifications.

Implementing 800G Ethernet typically requires advanced 800G network hardware and optical modules capable of supporting high-speed data transmission, often designed with low power consumption for energy efficiency. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) handles the standardization of 800G Ethernet, ensuring interoperability across devices from different vendors.

The Need for 800G Ethernet

The need for 800G Ethernet arises from the massive surge in data. One of the clearest examples of this is the training of large-scale AI models. Public data shows that from GPT-1 to GPT-4, the number of model parameters has skyrocketed from 110 million to 500 billion, with expectations to surpass trillions in the near future. According to the research firm TrendForce, the GPT-3.5 large model requires 20,000 GPUs to process training data using NVIDIA’s A100 graphics cards.

In supercomputing centers within large computational clusters, advanced chips and high computing power alone are insufficient. Computing chips only offer processing power, but true advanced computing is based on a "bottleneck effect" where computation, storage, and network transmission must all work efficiently. If one of these core areas—computation, storage, or network transmission—lags behind, the entire system's performance can suffer dramatically. This is why cloud service providers are actively deploying 800G Ethernet, which can address the transmission bottleneck in these systems.

800G Ethernet Specification

The 800G Ethernet specification is designed as an interface utilizing eight 106 Gb/s lanes with a 2xClause 119 PCS (from the 400G standard) to connect a single MAC operating at 800 Gb/s. The diagram below provides a high-level view of this architecture. It's possible to create an 800G interface by using two 400G PMDs, such as two 400GBASE-DR4 modules, although proper skew management is needed to remain within the specification. This architecture could also support slower interfaces, such as 8×106.25G or even slower configurations, but the primary focus is on the 8×106.25G implementation.

Utilize Current Standards

The 800 Gb/s capability is achieved by leveraging two 400 Gb/s Physical Coding Sublayers (PCSs) that incorporate integrated Forward Error Correction (FEC) and support eight lanes of 106.25G each. The IEEE 802.3 standard for 400 Gb/s utilizes multi-lane distribution (MLD) to distribute data from a single Media Access Control (MAC) channel across 16 PCS lanes. In the 800G standard, a MAC scaled to 800 Gb/s, along with two modified 400 Gb/s PCSs, will be used to manage 8x100G lanes. This results in a total of 32 PCS lanes (2×16 from the 400G standard), all featuring RS(544,514) FEC, as defined in the 400G standard.

A key part of the MLD striping process is the use of unique alignment markers (AMs) for each virtual lane. For 400 Gb/s, AMs are inserted into the striped data stream every 163,840 x 257b blocks. At 800 Gb/s, this process will continue with the same spacing per 400G stream, but twice as many AMs will be inserted, with modifications made to ensure proper synchronization for the 800 Gb/s stream and prevent misalignment with a 400 Gb/s port. The 802.3ck standard governs the Chip-to-Module (C2M) and Chip-to-Chip (C2C) interfaces, running at 106.25G per lane.

How 800G Ethernet is Transforming Industries

The integration of 800G Ethernet into industries is proving to be a game-changer, especially for those dealing with enormous data loads. Industries such as telecommunications, finance, healthcare, autopilot, and entertainment are witnessing significant improvements in their data-handling capabilities.

For instance, telecommunications providers are now able to support higher customer loads without compromising on service quality. Financial institutions, which rely on real-time transactions, can process vast amounts of data faster and more securely. In the entertainment industry, high-definition video streaming and online gaming platforms are set to benefit immensely from the reduced latency and increased bandwidth that 800G Ethernet offers. Similarly, 800G Ethernet can transfer large-scale datasets from their source to an analytics platform, accelerating data processing. For example, healthcare organizations can use these networks to analyze vast patient medical records, improving diagnosis and treatment. Autonomous vehicles, which rely on high-resolution maps and sensor data for precise positioning and environmental awareness, will benefit from 800G Ethernet technology, enhancing both safety and reliability in self-driving systems.

Moreover, as businesses increasingly embrace AI and machine learning, the demand for faster and more efficient networks is only set to rise. 800G Ethernet stands ready to meet this challenge, ensuring that companies can leverage cutting-edge technologies without being held back by networking constraints.

Introducing the FS 800G Data Center Ethernet Switch

As enterprises increasingly adopt 800G Ethernet, FS's 800G data center switch, the N9600-64OD, stands out as the ideal choice for high-performance computing (HPC) and data-heavy environments. Powered by the Broadcom BCM78900 Tomahawk 5 chipset, the switch offers 64 OSFP ports, each configurable up to 800Gbps, along with an impressive 102.4 Tbps switching capacity and a forwarding rate of 20,695 Mpps. This makes it an optimal solution for HPC environments requiring massive data throughput. Moreover, with support for RoCEv2, PFC, ECN, GLB, and DLB technologies, the switch ensures low-latency, lossless RDMA applications. The TH5 chip also provides ultra-high bandwidth, energy efficiency, and reliable performance, optimizing modern HPC workloads and enhancing data center operations.

Conclusion

800G Ethernet is more than just a faster networking solution—it's the foundation for the next generation of digital infrastructure. As data centers, enterprises, and service providers continue to expand, adopting 800G Ethernet will be essential to keep pace with the rapidly evolving technological landscape. By investing in 800G now, businesses can enjoy the benefits of improved performance, energy efficiency, and scalability, while staying prepared for whatever the future may bring.

FS, a leading provider of networking solutions, offers a complete portfolio of products and services to help businesses implement 800G Ethernet or upgrade their existing infrastructure. From HPC case studies to in-depth consultations, explore our solutions to enhance your network's performance.