Ethernet
A method for connecting computers on a shared cable, first described in a memo from May 1973.
Robert Metcalfe wrote a memo at Xerox PARC on May 22, 1973, describing a network to link the new Alto computers. It borrowed ideas from the ALOHAnet radio system in Hawaii. Computers shared one cable, listened before sending and backed off for a random time if two sent together.
Metcalfe and David Boggs built the first working network in 1973 and 1974. In 1979 Metcalfe left Xerox to found 3Com. Xerox, Digital Equipment and Intel published a shared standard in 1980, and the IEEE released its version, 802.3, in 1983.
Why it matters
Ethernet became the standard way to connect computers in buildings. It has grown from 2.94 megabits per second to hundreds of gigabits per second while keeping the same basic frame format.
Key facts
- Metcalfe's memo is dated May 22, 1973.
- The first version ran at 2.94 megabits per second.
- IEEE standard 802.3 appeared in 1983.
- Inspired in part by ALOHAnet.
Sources
- Campbell-Kelly, Martin, and William Aspray, et al. Computer: A History of the Information Machine. 3rd ed. Westview Press, 2013.
- Metcalfe, Robert M., and David R. Boggs. "Ethernet: Distributed Packet Switching for Local Computer Networks." Communications of the ACM 19, no. 7 (1976).
- Hiltzik, Michael. Dealers of Lightning. HarperBusiness, 1999.