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The New Era Needs a New Network

Our Mission

Deliver an Ethernet based open, interoperable, high performance, full-communications stack architecture to meet the growing network demands of AI & HPC at scale

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Steering Members

General Members

Contributor Members

*Please note that not all members are displayed on this page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the goals and mission of Ultra Ethernet Consortium (UEC)?

  • Deliver a complete architecture that optimizes Ethernet for high performance AI and HPC networking, exceeding the performance of today’s specialized technologies.  UEC specifically focuses on functionality, performance, TCO, and developer and end-user friendliness, while minimizing changes to only those required and maintaining Ethernet interoperability.
  • Additional goals: 
    • Improved bandwidth, latency, tail latency, and scale, matching tomorrow’s workloads and compute architectures.
    • Backwards compatibility to widely-deployed APIs and definition of new APIs that are better optimized to future workloads and compute architectures.

Why does Ethernet need UEC?

  1. How does UEC differ from what is available today in Ethernet?  AI and HPC workloads present new challenges to the network such as the need for higher scale, higher bandwidth density, multi-pathing, fast reaction to congestion, and inter-dependency on the progress of individual flows (where tail latency is the figure of merit). UEC specifications will be designed to bridge these gaps and provide the increased scale required by these workloads.  UEC is targeting a complete communications stack, addressing technical issues that traverse many protocol layers and delivering ease of configuration and management.
  2. How does UEC differ from what is available today in with other protocols?  Existing protocols may address some of the above aspects (e.g., older era congestion management), but since they were designed for general purpose networks, they lack functionality critical to AI and HPC such multi pathing and ease of configuration.  Existing protocols may also be brittle in the scenarios of interest. Together with the vast UEC members’ experience with AI and HPC workloads deployed at scale, UEC will provide a compelling, well rounded solution ushering in new hardware and software products not available with Ethernet or any other networking technology today!

What markets are being addressed by UEC?

  1. HPC at scale
  2. AI at scale (“GPU scale-out network”)
  3. Cloud AI and HPC

What is the relationship of UEC and other organizations that develop Ethernet and other network specifications, standards, and software?

It is the intention of UEC to fully engage with the relevant SDOs (Standards Development Organizations) to make UEC technology an official element of the broadly deployed family of Ethernet based technologies and products.

In what types of activities does UEC engage?

UEC will engage in technology conferences, webinars, and liaisons with relevant SDOs.  UEC may also pursue compliance and interop programs.

Who should join UEC and what is the process and cost?

Any organization, vendor or implementor who develops hardware or software for AI and HPC or runs these workloads and would like to contribute to or take advantage of the Ethernet ecosystem as enhanced by UEC.

Are there different membership levels?

Yes, UEC has steering members, general members, and contributors. More information can be found further down this page.

How is UEC organized and operated, and does it have presence outside of the United States?

UEC is organized as part of the Linux Foundation JDF and enjoys the status of an International Standards Organization (ISO). UEC has members that are multinational and are centered outside of the United States. UEC will be open to global participation.

When and where can I find the technical specifications and roadmap of UEC?

Stay tuned: UEC will announce when technical documents and roadmap are available. These documents will be published on the UEC website.

Where can I subscribe to news of the UEC?

More information is available by subscribing on the UEC website (ultraethernet.org).

When can we expect products based on UEC specifications to be available in the market?

We expect the first full standards-based products from 2024.

What are the planned routes to market once products are available and where can users buy them?

Buying UEC-compliant products will be similar to the ways Ethernet-based prodcuts are procured today. Existing and future UEC members have well established routes to market to allow interested parties to buy UEC compliant equipment when available.

What is the advantage of UEC communications stack and complying products vs. existing specialized networks?

There are multiple advantages. One of the key advantages is that UEC compliant Ethernet based equipment will be available from an open ecosystem of manufacturers.

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