The Metro Ethernet Forum has unveiled its next generation of Ethernet standardization, with none other than Bob Metcalfe doing the honors.  Carrier Ethernet 2.0 has arrived.

The idea is simply that MEF 9 and MEF 14, now to be known as Carrier Ethernet 1.0) were very successful, but since then there have been many additional refinements that have come along that have a lot to offer to the industry. CE 2.0 takes those and wraps them up in a nice package that can now have a similar unified certification process. In particular, CE2.0 expands the number of standard services from 3 to 8. Along with enhancements to E-Line and E-LAN come E-Tree and E-Access, each with a virtual and non-virtual version.  Key new features include Multi-CoS, Interconnection, and Managed services.

We saw one particular application of these technologies come out two weeks ago, with Multi-CoS being used to improve the economics of wireless backhaul.  The MEF believes that CE 2.0 will allow Ethernet to take on a wide spectrum of increasingly complex tasks within networks.  In particular, it will enabling Ethernet services to span more than one service provider seamlessly.

Much of what is in CE2.0 is already being used by carriers, but standardizing it all will help bring order to the industry as a whole.  It was the completion of work on several such items last month that made CE 2.0 hold together as a group, and the MEF is wasting no time on the new initiative. Certification details will come in Q2, and there will likely be certified equipment out there by the end of the year.

The Metro Ethernet Forum's (MEF's) upcoming adoption, E-Access, will be used to address issues left behind by its last adoption of a "Phase One" External Network-to-Network Interconnection (ENNI) standard that was meant to ensure smoother interoperability, according to the latest report from Heavy Reading Insider (www.heavyreading.com/insider), a paid research service of Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com).
 
Ethernet Interop Center Stage 2012: MEF Builds on ENNI With E-Access identifies and analyzes progress made toward developing a standardized approach to Carrier Ethernet interconnection, focusing on the role played by the MEF in supporting Ethernet interconnect. The report assesses the role that the new E-Access standard will play in facilitating Carrier Ethernet service interconnection. It also updates the status of Carrier Ethernet exchange (CEE) services and evaluates the role that exchanges will have in Ethernet service interconnect.

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Speaking at the recent NetEvents 2011 APAC Press & Analyst Summit in Thailand, MEF President Nan Chen outlined the proceedings of the MEF’s last quarterly meeting for 2011, held in Singapore last month, and their particular relevance for APAC business. Key issues for the region include Carrier Ethernet Multiple Classes of Service (Multi-CoS), Ethernet mobile backhaul, and the rise of wholesale Ethernet services – and all three issues were addressed by new technical specifications progressed at the Quarterly meeting. He also announced strong support for the new MEF Carrier Ethernet Certified Professional (CECP) certification program, which is already boosting the skills availability in a highly competitive market. Nan Chen explained how the letter ballot acceptance of the MEF’s Phase 2 on Multi-CoS and Mobile Backhaul Implementation Agreements – extending MEF 23 and MEF 22 respectively – is an especially important issue for the region where, without a strong legacy network of fixed line connections, it is doubly attractive to leapfrog traditional leased line connections from cell cites to core network and go for an all-Ethernet solution. According to Infonetics’ Michael Howard: “IP/Ethernet MBH is the universally accepted solution to lower the costs of growing mobile data traffic, and to facilitate migration to next generation all-IP/Ethernet networks. This two Implementation Agreements will be especially welcome for addressing explosive growth of mobile Internet traffic, as well as pointing the way to simpler 4G migration.”

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Ethernet has become the carrier market's fastest-growing service worldwide and its reach has become increasingly comprehensive and global. Ethernet has increasingly expanded far beyond the enclosed single-carrier service "islands" within which it first developed, requiring connections across multiple carrier networks both locally and globally.

Emphasis within the Ethernet market – and the sector's lead trade/standards organization, the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) – has shifted increasingly to issues of interconnection and service alignment between providers. Pre-standards interconnection agreements (sometimes called "virtual ENNIs") between provider pairs, typically with each carrier using proprietary service variants and Class of Service (CoS) structures, have been complex, costly and time-consuming to negotiate and implement, constraining Ethernet development below its potential despite very rapid growth.

While the MEF's adoption last year of a "Phase One" External Network-to-Network Interconnection (ENNI) standard was meant to ensure smoother interoperability, it left major ambiguities, which the new pending MEF E-Access service standard – projected for January 2012 adoption – attempts to address more comprehensively. As a more definitive implementation guide, E-Access will mark another major step toward standardizing Ethernet interconnection and so potentially enhancing service competition and availability, variety and quality worldwide.

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