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Ethernet: distributed packet switching for local computer networks

Authors:

Robert M. Metcalfe,

David R. BoggsAuthors Info & Claims

Communications of the ACM, Volume 19, Issue 7

Pages 395 - 404

https://doi.org/10.1145/360248.360253

Published: 01 July 1976 Publication History

Abstract

Ethernet is a branching broadcast communication system for carrying digital data packets among locally distributed computing stations. The packet transport mechanism provided by Ethernet has been used to build systems which can be viewed as either local computer networks or loosely coupled multiprocessors. An Ethernet's shared communication facility, its Ether, is a passive broadcast medium with no central control. Coordination of access to the Ether for packet broadcasts is distributed among the contending transmitting stations using controlled statistical arbitration. Switching of packets to their destinations on the Ether is distributed among the receiving stations using packet address recognition. Design principles and implementation are described based on experience with an operating Ethernet of 100 nodes along a kilometer of coaxial cable. A model for estimating performance under heavy loads and a packet protocol for error controlled communication are included for completeness.

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cover image Communications of the ACM

Communications of the ACM Volume 19, Issue 7

July 1976

56 pages

ISSN:0001-0782

EISSN:1557-7317

DOI:10.1145/360248

Editor:
Robert L. Ashenhurst
Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Issue’s Table of Contents

Copyright © 1976 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Association for Computing Machinery

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Publication History

Published: 01 July 1976

Published in CACM Volume 19, Issue 7

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