What Is 1000BASE or Gigabit Ethernet?

The 1000BASE, also known as the Gigabit Ethernet standard, GbE or GigE. The “1000” in the media type stands for the transmission speed of 1000 Mbit/s. The “BASE” means the based signals can only be Ethernet signals. In order to meet a higher speed demand for most people, the initial standard for Gigabit Ethernet was produced by the IEEE in June 1998 as IEEE 802.3z, and required optical fiber. It provides 10 times faster transfer speed than 100BASE Ethernet. Gigabit Ethernet is today’s industry Ethernet standard for workstations, access points and access -level switches. It can generally be divided into three kinds of standard, IEEE 802.3z, IEE 802.ab and IEEE 802.3ah. There are varied standard series attached to IEEE standards. IEEE 802.3z is commonly referred to as 1000BASE-X, where -X refers to either -CX, -SX, -LX, -EX and etc. 1000BASE-T series are fully covered in IEEE 802.ab. And 1000BASE-LX10 and 1000BASE-BX10 are two more gigabit fiber standards which are belong to IEEE 802.3ah. We would introduce some kinds of them in the following text, such as 1000BASE-SX, 1000BASE-LX, 1000BASE-EX as well as 1000BASE-T.

1000BASE-SX

1000BASE-SX is a type of standard for implementing Gigabit Ethernet networks, and the medium of it can only be multimode fiber, such as OM1 and OM2. The letter “S” of the letters “SX” stands for short. It indicates that this version of Gigabit Ethernet is intended for use with short wavelength, and it’s around 770 to 860 nanometer. It is an extension of standard Ethernet technologies to lever the Ethernet networks. Because it is only can be used with multimode fiber-optic cabling, it is primarily used for shorter cable runs between pieces pf equipment within a building. The transmission distance of 1000BASE-SX over OM1 with a 62.5 μm core diameter is 275m while the distance is 550 m over OM2 with a 50 μm core diameter. 1000BASE-SX is intended mainly for connecting high-speed hubs, Ethernet switches, and routers together. Hence, this standard is warmly welcomed in large office buildings, co-location facilities and carrier-neutral Internet exchanges for inner building links.

1000BASE-LX

1000BASE-LX is completely complied with standard IEEE 802.3z. Being quite opposite of 1000BASE-SX, the letter “L” stands for long distance. Thus, the 1000BASE-LX is mainly used for long wavelength to transfer, and the wavelength is around 1,270 to 1,355 nanometer. Being different from 1000BASE-SX, 1000BASE-LX can be used for both single-mode and multimode fiber optic. This standard supports multimode length of 550 m and single-mode length of 5 km. Based on 1000BASE-LX, 1000BASE-LX/LH is designed for supporting a distance up to 10 km over a pair single-mode fiber due to higher quality optics. It was widely used by many vendors now.

1000BASE-EX

1000BASE-EX is also a kind of Gigabit Ethernet standard, but it may not so standard as the above two kinds of 1000BASE-X series. It can only be used with single-mode fibers with a longer wavelength at 1,310 nm. The letter “E” in the “EX” means extended. 1000BASE-EX can achieve a longer distances up to 40 km over a pair of single-mode fibers due to higher quality than a 1000BASE-LX/LH. Thus, it is sometimes also related 1000BASE-LH (Long Haul) for its long transfer distance. And it is used more often in the industry.

1000BASE-T

1000BASE-T standard, also known as IEEE 802.ab, is a kind of Gigabit Ethernet standard over copper wiring. It uses four pairs of Category 5 unshielded twisted pair to achieve the gigabit rate. 1000BASE-T can run up to a maximum of 100 meters. It is supported on CAT 5e, CAT6 and CAT7 cabling. With 1000BASE-T, all four pairs of the copper cable are used; however, only two pairs are used for the connection of the link. If the cable only has two pairs available, the connection between the two devices might succeed, but the link will not come up. Crossover cables are not required for 1000BASE-T links as the two endpoints will automatically connect and bring up the link even when connected by a straight-through cable. Compared to the 1000BASE-X series, the using of copper cable is a great advantage for 1000BASE-T because it is unnecessary to rewire with optical fiber. There are another two kinds of standards coming out based on 1000BASE-T latter, that is, 1000BASE-T1 and 1000BASE-TX. At present, 1000BASE-T is mainly used in data centers for server switching, for uplinks from desktop computer switches, or directly to the desktop for broadband applications.

Conclusion

The 1000BASE or gigabit Ethernet has series of standards to meet the higher speed of 1 gigabit (1,000 megabits) rate. There are commonly two kinds of standards of it, and we mainly talked about 1000BASE-X series and 1000BASE-T series in this passage. If you look for a long distance transmission, then 1000BASE-EX will be a good choice. Given that you use a multimode optical cable, 1000BASE-SX would be a right one. If you are in need of a kind for both single-mode and multimode, 1000BASE-LX is the perfect one. Supposed that you are intended to use copper wiring instead of optic fiber, 1000BASE-T would be nice for you. You can absolutely choose an appropriate one to satisfy your need.