Ethernet is still going strong after 50 years #History #Networking
The XeroxPalo Alto Research Center (PARC) in California has spawned many pioneering computer technologies including the Alto—the first personal computer to use a graphical user interface—and the first laser printer.
The PARC facility also is known for the invention of Ethernet, a networking technology that allows high-speed data transmission over coaxial cables. Ethernet has become the standard wired local area network around the world, and it is widely used in businesses and homes. It was honored this year as an IEEE Milestone, a half century after it was born.
Ethernet’s development began in 1973, when Charles P. Thacker—who was working on the design of the Alto computer—envisioned a network that would allow Altos to communicate with each other, as well as with laser printers and with PARC’s gateway to the ARPANET. PARC researcher Robert M. Metcalfe, an IEEE Fellow, took on the challenge of creating the technology. Metcalfe soon was joined by computer scientist David Boggs.
Metcalfe, Boggs, Thacker, and Butler W. Lampson were granted a U.S. patent in 1978 for their invention.
Ethernet became commercially available in 1980 and quickly grew into the industry LAN standard. To provide computer companies with a framework for the technology, in June 1983 Ethernet was adopted as a standard by the IEEE 802 Local Area Network Standards Committee.
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