Apple announced the next wave of Ethernet evolution this week at Macworld Expo. Its two new PowerBooks (the skinny 12" AlBook and double wide 17" AlBook) both support Airport Extreme, Apple's implementation of 802.11g. This new wireless network protocol is backwards compatible with current 802.11b, but offers 54Mbps bandwidth, compared to the regular 11Mbps bandwidth on current wireless ethernet networks.
All of this highlights Metcalfe's law: the value of a network increases as the square of its nodes. Today, there are approximately zero 802.11g networks, while every self respecting geek has a 802.11b network at home that reaches from the bedroom to the living room (and still offers superb connectivity from the bathroom). Buy an Airport Extreme card today, and you can use it in thousands of locations, without waiting for 802.11g networks to be rolled out.
Bob Metcalfe must have known something about networking. After all, his Ph. D. dissertation was about the theoretical foundation of what we now know as Ethernet. However, Bob didn't invent networking, just the packet switching techniques that make ethernet work. He actually got his inspiration from elsewhere.
Question 1: (15 points)
What research network did Bob Metcalfe study before he hit upon the packet switching idea he discussed in his dissertration?Question 2: (10 points)
Where was this research network located?No searching. Happy hunting!
Results: +25 to Dom2 for correctly guessing that AlohaNet in Hawaii was Bob Metcalfe's inspiration behind the packet-based networking protocol we know as Ethernet. AlohaNet started as a radio-based packet switching network out of necessity -- running wires from Honolulu to Maui and Kauai just isn't practical. :-)
-Dom
Re:I know!
Dom2 on 2003-01-10T16:48:28
Damn. I meant "ALOHA".-Dom
Re:I know!
ziggy on 2003-01-10T18:39:38
Yep. It was AlohaNet in Hawaii. Kind of fitting that ethernet has gone full circle -- back to packet based networking over radio waves.+25.
;-)
