ExpEther Consortium Launched by Institutions Supporting
Virtualization Technology
ExpEther Consortium is an organization which promotes next-generation interconnection technologies
that are used in a variety of systems, including servers, PCs, network equipment, embedded systems and others.
Members of the consortium represent a wide range of industries and academic institutions, such as FPGA/PLD vendors,
SOC/ASSP vendors, ASIC/FPGA/PLD Design and IP suppliers, system/board developers, as well as hardware and
software researchers.
ExpEther is a virtualization technology for servers and network equipment that was first launched in 2006.
The system integrates two major standard computer and network interfaces, the PCI Express ("PCIe") and Ethernet.
Virtualization technology in the ExpEther enables systems to become PCIe compliant, even if the I/O is located remotely;
host machines recognize its presence in the local PCIe slot. Therefore, users may continue to comfortably use
today’s commercially available software, OS/drivers, I/O devices and others.
ExpEther primarily targets servers and network equipment in order to enable I/O-consolidation, I/O-virtualization,
and a system-extension. However, the needs of high-performance computers, industrial equipment,
and embedded systems are now greater than initially expected.
The consortium will encourage demand for ExpEther by providing information on the technology’s specifications, white papers,
and application notes. The consortium will also introduce information on members’ activities related to ExpEther,
such as the release of an evaluation board, test system, IP, FPGA/PLD, ASIC, Endpoint I/O, Ethernet switch, and others.