ethernet
n 1: a type of network technology for local area networks;
coaxial cable carries radio frequency signals between
computers at a rate of 10 megabits per second
Ethernet
<networking> A {local area network} first described by
Metcalfe & Boggs of {Xerox PARC} in 1976. Specified by {DEC},
{Intel} and {XEROX} (DIX) as {IEEE 802.3} and now recognised
as the industry standard.
Data is broken into {packets} and each one is transmitted
using the {CSMA/CD} {algorithm} until it arrives at the
destination without colliding with any other packet. The
first {contention slot} after a transmission is reserved for
an {acknowledge} packet. A {node} is either transmitting or
receiving at any instant. The {bandwidth} is about 10 Mbit/s.
Disk-Ethernet-Disk transfer rate with {TCP/IP} is typically 30
kilobyte per second.
Version 2 specifies that {collision} detect of the transceiver
must be activated during the {inter-packet gap} and that when
transmission finishes, the differential transmit lines are
driven to 0V (half step). It also specifies some {network
management} functions such as reporting {collisions}, retries
and {deferrals}.
Ethernet cables are classified as "XbaseY", e.g. 10base5,
where X is the data rate in {Mbps}, "base" means "{baseband}"
(as opposed to {radio frequency}) and Y is the category of
cabling. The original cable was {10base5} ("full spec"),
others are {10base2} ("thinnet") and {10baseT} ("twisted
pair") which is now (1998) very common. {100baseT} ("{Fast
Ethernet}") is also increasingly common.
Usenet newsgroup: news:comp.dcom.lans.ethernet.
(http://wwwhost.ots.utexas.edu/ethernet/ethernet-home.html).
(1997-04-16)