SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 6 -- Applied Micro Circuits, IBM, Infineon Texas Instruments and Xilinx announced today the creation and promotion of the Unified 10 Gb/s Physical-Layer Initiative (UXPi), a program organized by the The Industry Standards and Technology Organization (ISTO), part of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Enginee (IEEE). UXPi will advocate a common 10 Gb/s physical-layer standard to simplify and accelerate the implementation of next-generation 10 Gb/s systems; the group said it will complement other standardization efforts, such as those of the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF). "10Gb/s interfaces will form the basis for future high-bandwidth connections in chip-to-chip, chip-to-optical module and backplane applications," said Joe Berthold, president of OIF. "As a leader in the standardization of interfaces, OIF supports the expansion of interoperability benefits." UXPi plans to work with numerous companies to develop, refine and make the specification available. For more information, visit: www.uxpi.org