HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A significant transition in high speed interfaces is underway as the HSBI completes its primary specification and the Optical Internetworking Forum's (OIF) Common Electrical Interface project is kicked off. The objectives of the HSBI were to define an electrical interface and protocol standards for data rates of 4.96Gb/s through 6.375Gb/s. On November 14th, 2002, the OIF authorized the Common Electrical I/O Project. The OIF CEI will endeavor to develop an implementation agreement covering electrical and jitter specifications at data rates of both 6G+ and 11G+, over both short reach links and long reach links. The HSBI is pleased that the OIF is including 6G+ operation over backplanes, and is eager to support this activity. The HSBI submitted its initial Interface Electrical Specification for the OIF's consideration, and hopes that it will speed the work to satisfy the market's requirements for higher speed backplane links of up to 6.375Gb/s. Based on the recognized need to have a single focused industry effort to address the problem, the members of the HSBI have decided to support the effort within the OIF and disband the HSBI. "The HSBI was created by companies that recognized that current backplanes would have to be able to support higher bandwidth capacities," said John D'Ambrosia, secretary for the HSBI. "With no standard body focusing on the target application, the HSBI provided a forum to address this need for OEM customers, semiconductor vendors, connector vendors, and others." High Speed Backplane Initiative (HSBI)