Next-gen Ethernet standards set to move forward in 2025

Metz noted that in addition to vendor participation growth there was a lot of technical innovation. Significant developments were made across the physical, link, transport, and software layers, including innovative congestion schemes, built-in security and optimized packet delivery. 

“More than 25 individual projects contributed to the development of a finely tuned Ethernet stack designed to meet the demands of the most intensive workloads in history,” Metz said.

2025 will be a big year for UEC. 

“The fully integrated 1.0 specification, consolidating all drafts, is set to be released in early 2025,” Metz said. “Efforts are already underway to focus on compliance, performance enhancements, storage, and management solutions.”

The list of vendors participating in the UEC reads like a who’s who of the networking industry. Arista’s Rodgers said that he expects the release of the UEC spec will provide key enhancements to Ethernet for AI in both training and AGI environments. 

“The UEC spec is a multi-vendor effort with representation from the largest users of AI, systems and silicon vendors,” he said.