A novel 400-Gb/s (100-Gb/s × 4) physical-layer architecture for the next-generation Ethernet — using 100-Gb/s serial (optical single-wavelength) transmission — is proposed. As for the next-generation 400-Gb/s Ethernet, additional requirements from the market, such as power reduction and further miniaturization in addition to attaining even higher transmission speed, must be satisfied. To satisfy these requirements, a 100-Gb/s×4 Ethernet physical-layer architecture is proposed. This architecture uses a 100-Gb/s serial (optical single-wavelength) transmission Ethernet and low-power technologies for a multi-lane transmission Ethernet. These technologies are implemented on a 100-Gb/s serial (optical single wavelength) transmission Ethernet using field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Experimental evaluation of this implementation demonstrates the feasibility of low-power 400-Gb/s Ethernet.