On 10/02/2018 09:20 PM, Bill Degnan via cctalk wrote:
I think Metcalfe was just giving credit for where he got the idea of
letting packets collide like alohanet was doing. He took their idea
and improved with collision detection and borrowed the name of his
improvements and subsequent network "The Alto Aloha Network" i.e. it
was his improved "alto" version of the concept inspired by alohanet.
In May 1973 (I later found) he renamed his network system "Ethernet".
There were a number of other more established networks out there at the
time, this was just the start.
I think this whole area of research is very interesting.
According to the following link (which is purportedly an excerpt from
page 5 of "Ethernet: The Definitive Guide"), the 3 Mbps Experimental
Ethernet was indeed originally called Ethernet.
Link - Why is it called Ethernet?
- http://www.ethermanage.com/why-is-it-called-ethernet/
"""
In late 1972, Metcalfe and his Xerox PARC colleagues developed the first
experimental “Ethernet” network system to interconnect Xerox Altos to
one another, and to servers and laser printers. The signal clock for the
experimental interface was derived from the Alto’s system clock,
resulting in a data transmission rate on the experimental Ethernet of
2.94 Mb/s.
Metcalfe’s first experimental network was called the Alto Aloha Network.
In 1973, Metcalfe changed the name to “Ethernet,” to make it clear that
the system could support any computer‚ not just Altos‚ and to point out
that his new network mechanisms had evolved well beyond the Aloha
system. He chose to base the name on the word “ether” as a way of
describing an essential feature of the system: the physical medium
(i.e., a cable) carries bits to all stations, much the same way that the
old “luminiferous ether” was once thought to propagate electromagnetic
waves through space. Thus, Ethernet was born.
"""
I apparently need to pick up a copy of Ethernet: The Definitive Guide
and do some reading.
--
Grant. . . .
unix || die
