Gigabit Ethernet

What is Gigabit Ethernet

Gigabit Ethernet is the full name of Gigabit Ethernet, abbreviated as Gbe. Gigabit Ethernet is a transmission technology that uses the Ethernet frame format and protocol to support the transmission of Ethernet frames at a rate of one gigabit per second. The GBe can offer a data rate of 1 billion bits per second or 1 gigabit (Gb). The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3ab standard defines 1000BASE-T , the most popular type of Gigabit Ethernet. It began to wide use in 1999, and is currently used as an access layer network for many enterprise networks.

 

Gigabit Ethernet is used in both optical fiber and copper cables. In the internal network, from the wired connection of the user's PC to the server equipment, the access layer rate of most enterprises has evolved from 100M Ethernet to Gigabit Ethernet. 10Gbe is widely used in the aggregation layer network. Nowadays, 25Gbe, 40Gbe and 100Gbe are very common in medium and large enterprises and data center networks, all of which are developed based on Gigabit Ethernet.

 

How Gigabit Ethernet Works?

 

Gigabit Ethernet is most commonly used as an Ethernet switch with switched full-duplex networks. Gigabit Ethernet uses the same 802.3 frame structure as standard Ethernet. It supports speeds of 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) using Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection (CSMA/CD). CSMA/CD handles transmissions after a collision occurs. If two devices attempt to transmit data at the same time to each other, the transmission rates may cause the packets to intersect. CSMA/CD detects and discards the colliding packets. 

 

Gigabit Ethernet is commonly found over copper or fiber optic cables. Longer distances over 100 meters (m) require fiber optic cables. But traditional Ethernet cables can transmit data at Gigabit speeds over shorter distances, such as Cat5e cables that can transmit 100M at 1000BASE-T rates.

 

Types of Gigabit Ethernet

 

1000Base-CX (legacy)

It is used for connections up to 25 m, using shielded twisted pair (STP) cables. ‘CX’ indicates the use of copper cabling (short-haul copper). 

1000BASE-KX

This standard, which is used for operation over electrical backplanes, uses UTP-type cables.

 

1000Base-T 

1000BASE-T (also known as IEEE 802.3ab) is the standard for twisted-pair Gigabit Ethernet. It is applied for transmission distance up to 100 m. Nearly all types of category cable are compatible with the 1000base-t standard, such as cat5/cat5a/cat6/cat6a.

1000BASE-T1

It is used for connections up to 40 m, uses STP copper cables, such as Cat5, Cat5e.

1000BASE-TX.

The 1000base-tx is similar to 1000Base-T, which is also applied for transmission distance up to 100 m. The simplified design uses only four unidirectional pairs (two TX pairs and two RX pairs) instead of four bidirectional pairs. Reduces the production cost of network cables.

 

It must uses Cat6/Cat6a copper cables. 

 

1000Base-SX

This standard, which is used for connections up to 550 m, using multimode(OM2/OM3/OM4) fiber optic cables for short-wavelength transmissions. ‘SX’ indicates the transmission distance (short). 

 

1000Base-LX

This standard is used for connections up to a maximum distance of 10 kilometers (km), and uses single mode fiber optic cables. ‘LX’ indicates the transmission distance (Long). 

 

1000BASE-EX

This standard is used for connections up to a maximum distance of 40 kilometers (km), and uses single mode fiber optic cables. Using a 1310 nm wavelength laser, allowing transmission distances up to 40 km on a single-mode fiber pair. ‘EX’ indicates the transmission distance (Extend). 

 

1000BASE-ZX

1000BASE-ZX refers to Gigabit Ethernet transmission using a wavelength of 1,550 nm, achieving a distance of at least 80 km over single-mode fiber. Some vendors also refer to modules that can transmit 120 km over a single-mode fiber wavelength of 1,550 nm as EZX modules.