In today’s world, the basis of communication is data transfer between two computers on a network. Gone are the days of snail mail, because e-mail, instant messaging and Voice Over Internet Protocol have taken over the communication factor of our lives. Leading the innovations is the family of computer networking technologies collectively called “Ethernet”. These frame-based computer networking technologies are heavily used for Local Area Networks where they form the core basis of router to client or client to server architecture.
The technology uses a physical wiring layer over intelligent software to transmit data through a cable, now a standardised format known as twisted pair Ethernet cable. The technology has existed largely since the 1980’s and has replaced and outpaced most of its competing technologies because of its ease of use, cost effectiveness and wide application. The name derives from the fact that the wiring technology was akin to the old description of Luminiferous ether, a substance that was thought to be a mode of transport of light and other energies.
Experimented upon and developed at Xerox PARC by the original four inventors – David Boggs, Robert Metcalfe, Butler Lampson and Chuck Thacker in the years 1973 to 1975 at which time they filed for a patent. Originally the Ethernet cabling had speeds of up to 3 Megabits per second, as there was no Media Access Control (MAC) or Data Link Layer systems developed them. As soon as the technology became public, numerous devices built over this system were developed and accessed to become one of the most proliferating networking technologies to be developed. The first 10 Mb/s Ethernet was developed in 1980 by 3Com inc. and was surpassed by Digital Equipment corp.’s Unibus to Ethernet adapter.
The extraordinary penetration of Ethernet around the world is largely due to its very simple installation and usage. The first ever draft of the Ethernet technology described a single cable tethered to many computers, and with a rudimentary “plug and play” system so that any computer could communicate with another connected to the wire with minimal installation. With CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense with Multiple Access – Collision Detection) technology added to the system, the rate of transfer and the signal to noise ratio both increased rapidly to pave a way for these technologies to ascend to new heights. Now, the Ethernet technology is the core basis of consumer broadband, with wired routers forming a LAN between the router and the computer, and becoming a gateway to high speed internet.
