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LAN Technology Scorecard John Wobus, jmwobus@syr.edu, 10/31/1995 (corrections welcome) This file: http://web.syr.edu/~jmwobus/comfaqs/lan-technology ftp://ftp.syr.edu/information/faqs/lan-technology Related file: http://web.syr.edu/~jmwobus/comfaqs/lan-technology.log ftp://ftp.syr.edu/information/faqs/lan-technology.log Technology Rate Dist Packet Wiring As Of Standard Products ---------- --------- ---- ------- ------------ ----- ------------ --------- - 4Mb Token 4Mbps 570m TokenR4 Type1/Type2 10/94 IEEEdone Out 4Mb Token 4Mbps 260m TokenR4 C3/C4/C5 10/94 IEEEdone Out 4Mb Token 4Mbps ? TokenR4 Fiber 10/94 IEEEdone Out 16Mb Token 16Mbps ? TokenR16 Type1/Type2 10/94 IEEEdone Out 16Mb Token 16Mbps ? TokenR16 Fiber 10/94 IEEEdone Out 16Mb Token 16Mbps 160m TokenR16 C3/C4/C5 10/94 IEEEdone Out 64Mb Token 64Mbps ? TokenR64 ? 2/95 Rumor ? LocalTalk 230.4kbps 300m AppleTk C1 12/94 Proprietary Out ARCNET 2.5Mbps 100f ARCNET RG62 7/94 ANSIdone Out TCNS 100Mbps 100m ARCNET RG62A/U 7/94 Proprietary Out TCNS 100Mbps 150m ARCNET Type1 7/94 Proprietary Out TCNS 100Mbps 900m ARCNET Fiber 7/94 Proprietary Out TCNS 100Mbps 100m ARCNET 4PC5 7/94 Proprietary ? ThinWire 10Mbps 185m Ethern ThinWire 12/93 IEEEdone Out ThickWire 10Mbps 500m Ethern ThickWire 12/93 IEEEdone Out 10BASE-T 10Mbps 100m Ethern 2PC3 11/93 IEEEdone Out FOIRL 10Mbps 1km Ethern Multimode 12/93 IEEEdone Out 10BASE-FL 10Mbps 2km Ethern Multimode 2/94 IEEEdone Out 10BASE-FB 10Mbps 2km Ethern Multimode 2/94 IEEEdone Out 10BASE-FP 10Mbps 500m Ethern Multimode 2/94 IEEEdone ? PMD 100Mbps 2km FDDI Multimode 11/93 ANSIdone Out oldCDDI 100Mbps 100m FDDI UTP 9/94 Propriet/Obs Out oldTP-FDDI 100Mbps 100m FDDI 2PC5/Type1/2 9/94 Obsel Out SDDI 100Mbps 100m FDDI STP 9/94 ? Out SMF-PMD 100Mbps 40km FDDI Singlemode 2/94 ANSIdone Out LCF-PMD 100Mbps 500m FDDI Multimode 7/95 ANSIalmost Out TP-PMD 100Mbps 100m FDDI 2PC5/Type1/2 7/95 ANSIalmost Out FDDI-II 100Mbps 40km FDDI Sing/Mult/etc 7/95 ANSIalmost Out old4T+ 100Mbps 100m Ethern 4PC3/4/5 11/93 IEEEstarting Late 93/9 4 old100B-X 100Mbps 100m Ethern 2PC5/Type1/Fib 1/94 IEEEsubmtd Out 100BASE-TX 100Mbps 100m Ethern 2PC5/Type1 7/95 IEEEdone Out 100BASE-FX 100Mbps 2km Ethern Multimode 7/95 IEEEdone Out 100BASE-T4 100Mbps 100m Ethern 4PC3/4/5 7/95 IEEEdone Mid 95 100BASE-T8 ? ? Ethern 8PC? 9/94 ? ? 100BASE-T2 100Mbps 100m Ethern 2PC3/4/5 7/95 In works Yrs away 100VG-AnyL 100Mbps 100m Eth/To 4PC3/4/5 6/95 IEEEratified Out 100VG-AnyL 100Mbps 150m Eth/To 2PC5/Type1 8/95 IEEEprop ? 100VG-AnyL 100Mbps 2km Eth/To Sing/Mult 6/95 IEEEratified Late 94 100VG-AnyL 100MbpsFD ? Eth/To ? 8/95 IEEEprop ? 100VG-AnyL 400Mbps ? Eth/To C5 8/95 IEEEprop ? 100VG-AnyL 4Gbps ? Eth/To Fiber 8/95 IEEEprop ? T100 50Mbps ? Ethern 2PC3 6/94 Proprietary Out T100 100Mbps ? Ethern 4PC3 6/94 Proprietary Out WaveBus 100Mbps 5km Ethern Multimode 8/94 Proprietary Out SwEthern 10Mbps 100m Ethern 2PC3 11/93 No change Out FDSE 10MbpsFD 100m Ethern 2PC3 6/94 Proposed Out PACE 10Mbps 100m Ethern 2PC3 11/94 Proprietary 95Q1 FDFastE 100Mbps 100m Ethern 2PC5/Type1 8/94 ? 94 FDFastE 100Mbps 2km Ethern Multimode 8/94 ? 94 isoENET 16Mbps 100m? Ethern 2PC3/Type1/Mul 7/95 IEEEratified 9510 SwToken 16Mbps 300m TokenR16 Type1/C4 7/94 No change Out FDToken 16MbpsFD 300m TokenR16 Type1/C4 2/94 ? Mid 94 SwFDDI 100Mbps 2km FDDI Multimode 12/93 No change Out FFDT 100MbpsFD 2km FDDI Multimode 11/94 Proprietary Out FDFDDI 100MbpsFD 2km FDDI Multimode 11/94 ? ? FDDIFOL 2.4Gbps ? ? Fiber 10/95 ? ? HIPPI-PH32 800Mbps 25m HIPPI-FP 100Pair 8/94 ANSIdone Out HIPPI-PH64 1.6Gbps 25m HIPPI-FP 100Pair 8/94 ANSIdone Out HIPPI-Ser 800Mbps 10km HIPPI-FP Singlemode 3/95 Speced Out FibreChan 100Mbps 1.5km FibreChn Mult/Cx/TP 8/94 ANSIdone Out? FibreChan 200Mbps 10km FibreChn Sing/Mult/Cx/TP8/94 ANSIdone Out FibreChan 400Mbps 10km FibreChn Sing/Mult/Cx 8/94 ANSIdone Out? FibreChan 800Mbps 10km FibreChn Sing/Mult/Cx 8/94 ANSIdone Out? FibreChan 1600Mbps ? FibreChn ? 2/95 Speced ? FibreChan 3200Mbps ? FibreChn ? 2/95 Speced ? FC-EP 4Gbps? 10km? FibreChn Sing/Mult/Cx 8/94 ANSIproposed Late 94 Myrinet 640Mbps 25m Myrinet Copper 8/94 Proposed Out STS3cUNI 155Mbps ? Cell Sing/Mult 12/93 AFpublished Out DS3UNI 45Mbps ? Cell ? 12/93 AFpublished Out E3UNI ? ? Cell ? 4/94 ? Out 100MbpsUNI 100Mbps ? Cell Multimode 12/93 AFpublished Out 155MbpsUNI 155Mbps 2km Cell Multimode 12/93 AFpublished ? 155MbpsUNI 155Mbps 100m Cell Type1/Type2 12/93 AFpublished ? 155MbpsUNI 155Mbps ? Cell C5 4/94 AFapproved ? TAXI/140 140Mbps ? Cell Multimode 11/94 Proprietary Out SONET/OC1 51Mbps ? Cell Sing/Mult 11/93 Done ? SONET/OC12 600Mbps ? Cell Sing/Copper 4/94 AFproposed ? SONET/OC48 2.4Gbps ? Cell ? 11/93 Done? ? SONET/? 10Gbps ? ? ? 12/95 ANSI? ? ATMT1 1.5Mbps 2Km Cell UTP 10/94 Proprietary Out ForumT1 1.5Mbps 2Km Cell UTP 10/94 AFapproved Out LST1 1.5Mbps 2Km Cell UTP 10/94 Proprietary Out J2 6Mbps ? Cell ? 3/95 AFadopted ? ATM25 25Mbps 100m Cell C3/4/5/Type1 2/95 AFselected Out STS-1/2 25Mbps ? Cell C3 2/95 AFrejected ? 51MbpsUNI 51Mbps 100m Cell C3/4/5/STP 8/94 AFballot ? TUT51 51Mbps ? Cell C3 1/95 AFproposed 95H1 TUT155 155Mbps 65m Cell C3 8/95 Proprietary Out CAP64 155Mbps ? Cell C3 1/95 AFproposed ? ATMFrm100? 100Mbps ? Cell Copper 2/94 AFproposed ? ---------- --------- ---- ------- ------------ ----- ------------ --------- - Technology Rate Dist Packet Wiring As Of Standard Products Key: Technology - Some don't have short names so I had to improvise. Rate - The raw rate: note that the raw rate of the transmission media is often not the bottleneck, and in at least one case (HIPPI) represents a maximum possible raw rate rather than a fixed rate. Dist - Maximum distance from a hub to a user station through the given technology. In the case of the various Ethernet technologies, it does not include transceiver cable (MAU) distance. Sometimes there are other limits, e.g. the distance limitations imposed by CSMA/CD. Packet - what type of packets it transmits. Important in determining whether bridging between this technology and others needs either encapsulation or translation. Kinds: Cell, Ethernet, FDDI, TokenRing Cell refers to ATM cells. Wiring - Type of wire or fiber supported. "As Of" - the date of the source of the latest information incorporated for the line. Standard - current state of the standard Products - current state of products Technology Key: 4Mb Token - 4 Mbps Token Ring: IEEE 802.5 4 Mbps. 16Mb Token - 16 Mbps Token Ring: IEEE 802.5 16 Mbps. Distances between hub and station actually depend upon equipment and ring configuration. One opinion: C3 is really not suitable, 90m maximum distance is safest for TP, 160m has been seen to work on C5, and for more 160m, fiber is best. 64Mb Token - 16 Mbps Token Ring: Nothing more than a rumor at this point. If IBM has considered it, clearly they would consider foregoing it simply because of the number of alternatives in the works. LocalTalk - Uses low-grade twisted pair (originally coax) as daisy chain, bus or star. TCP/IP commonly encapsulated in AppleTalk packets over LocalTalk. ARCNET - ANSI 878.1. Developed by Datapoint. Uses Token Bus access method. Aside from RG62, also runs on twisted pair through baluns. The 100ft limit is with the use of ARCNET Passive hubs. With an active hub, a 2000ft run is possible, and I've heard 400ft 2PC3 quoted also. TCNS - Proprietary LAN technology developed by Thomas-Conrad as a drop-in replacement for ARCNET offering 100Mbps. Also uses Token Bus access method. ThinWire - ThinWire Ethernet or IEEE 802.3 10BASE2. ThickWire - "ThickWire" Ethernet or IEEE 802.3 10BASE5. 10BASE-T - IEEE 802.3 10BASE-T. FOIRL - IEEE 802.3 FOIRL: "Fiber Optic Inter-Repeater Link". Note that the standard is a bit vague on whether this can be used to connect a station to a repeater. 10BASE-FL - IEEE 802.3 10BASE-FL: replacement for FOIRL. 10BASE-FB - IEEE 802.3 10BASE-FB: part of the new IEEE 802.3 10BASE-F spec: "Synchronous Ethernet" which is a special-purpose link for linking repeaters that allows the limit on segments & repeaters to be enlarged. Note that it was designed for inter-repeater links though it can be used to link to end stations and there are applications where this can be of use. 10BASE-FP - IEEE 802.3 10BASE-FP: part of the new IEEE 802.3 10BASE-F spec: support for a passive star configuration. PMD - FDDI "Physical Lay Medium Dependent" part. When "PMD" is used by itself, it usually refers to the usual kind of FDDI physical layer that uses multimode fiber. Note that FDDI also uses it as a more generic term, referring to different FDDI PMD's. Operates at 125Mhz using a 4B/5B NRZI encoding. oldCDDI - What was formerly known as CDDI: Proprietary technology developed by Crescendo. FDDI-like technology adapted to unshielded twisted pair. Efforts to standardize it have yielded TP-PMD. Cisco, which bought out Crescendo dropped the trademark on 'CDDI', blessing its use as a common industry term for TP-PMD. oldTP-FDDI - "Twisted Pair-FDDI": Technology to run FDDI over twisted pair proposed by 11 companies that have now joined in with TP-PMD. SDDI - "Shielded Distributed Data Interface". Proposal to run FDDI over shielded twisted pair by IBM and 10 or so other FDDI companies. Effectively superseded by the ANSI standards now. SMF-PMD - FDDI "Single-Mode Fiber" PMD. Runs further than PMD. LCF-PMD - FDDI "Low-Cost Fiber" PMD. Less expensive than PMD. Now at Rev 2.1 (T12/95-23, 1 January 1995). Will probably be published this year as ANSI X3.237.1995. TP-PMD - FDDI "Twisted Pair Physical Layer Medium". Also often called CDDI. ANSI specification for FDDI-like service over UTP. Being standardized by ANSI X3T12. Is now at Rev 2.2 (T12/95-022, 1 March 1995) and will be published as ANSI X3.263.1995. Operates at 125Mhz using a 4B/5B encoding, but uses MLT-3 encoding (a three-state encoding) instead of old CDDI & PMD's NRZI encoding to reduce emissions. The latest changes to TP-PMD were for a "base line wander problem". Some "TP-PMD" products sold do not incorporate the latest revisions the specification. FDDI-II - FDDI II. I've also seen it called isoFDDI. This is not necessarily an FDDI followon and doesn't change the ring so much as the way it is used. It standardizes a convention for setting aside bandwidth for various applications, by supporting multiple 6.144Mbps channels. Note that it can use all the PMD's for FDDI, thus for example can run 100m on 2PC5. old4T+ - 4T+: old name for 100BASE-T4. It may be that some prestandard equipment was released under the name 4T+. old100B-X - 100BASE-X: old name for 100BASE-TX & 100BASE-FX which now would refer to pre-standard equipment. 100BASE-T - 100Mbps CSMA/CD 802.3/Ethernet-like LAN also known as Fast Ethernet. There are three flavors: 100BASE-TX, 100BASE-FX, and 100BASE-T4 (see individual descriptions below). Repeaters or hubs would be necessary to adapt and there will be a media-independent interface which NICs can support so that an external adaptor determines which flavor can be attached. Packets are identical to 802.3 packets (with bit-times 1/10 the time), but the nature of CSMA/CD requires that the overall radius of the net be limited to 1/10 the size of 10Mbps Ethernet. A typical maximal system would be hubs on a very short backbone (up to 5 meters), the (repeating) hubs supporting links up to 100 meters. Single-hub networks allow up to 325 meters (e.g. 225 meters of fiber for one link and 100 meters of twisted pair for any other link). Extension of the net beyond this would require a switch, router, or bridge. Fiber links employing the CSMA/CD but with no hubs can run 450 meters, and full-duplex links (i.e., with CSMA/CD "disabled") can run 2km. It is obvious that without (at minimum) switches, that this technology will be limited to connecting a few offices to a server at most. All three have been defined by IEEE 802.3 in the IEEE P802.3u/D2 Supplement. 100BASE-TX - One of the three flavors of 100BASE-T. Basically a renaming of the twisted-pair variant of 100BASE-X. Borrows the physical characteristics of FDDI's TP-PMD, but uses Ethernet framing & CSMA/CD. A Media Independent Interface will allow a single interface card to use either this or the other flavors of 100BASE-T, just as the AUI allows a 10Mbps 802.3 controller to use any of its several types (though this interface doesn't seem too popular with the vendors who are trying to keep the price low: I know of no vendor who offers it). See also 100BASE-T above. Also in development is a method for NIC and hub to negotiate between 10BASE-T and 100BASE-T (called Nway) and I'm guessing this refers to 100BASE-TX. The method consists of extensions to the 10BASE-T link integrity test pulse sequence with pulses that signal 100BASE-T capability. This should allow "dual capability" NIC cards to be installed before a network is brought up to 100Mbps speed. 100BASE-FX - One of the three flavers of 100BASE-T. Basically a renaming of the fiber variant of 100BASE-X. Borrows the physical characteristics of FDDI's normal fiber PMD, but uses Ethernet framing & CSMA/CD. A Media Independent Interface will allow a single interface card to use either this or the other flavors of 100BASE-T, just as the AUI allows a 10Mbps 802.3 controller to use any of its several types. See also 100BASE-T above. 100BASE-T4 - One of the three flavers of 100BASE-T Basically a renaming of 4T+. Uses 8B6T (three-state: 8 bits encoded into 6 trits) encoding and 25MHZ clocking, and in addition to the two pairs traditionally used in the manner of 10BASE-T, also has two pair used in bidirectional half-duplex fashion. Among other things, this means that this particular kind of Ethernet cannot be made full duplex without the use of more pair. A Media Independent Interface will allow a single interface card to use either this or the other flavors of 100BASE-T, just as the AUI allows a 10Mbps 802.3 controller to use any of its several types. See also 100BASE-T above. 100BASE-T8 - something I heard mention of once. 100BASE-T2 - New initiative in June 1995. 100VG-AnyL - "100VG-AnyLAN" (VG means "Voice Grade"): Originally a proposal to IEEE 802.3 for a 100Mbps Ethernet-like network, later relegated to IEEE 802.12. Formerly known as 100BASE-VG. Uses Demand Priority media access method and when using 4 pair, Quartet Signalling. Operates at 30Mhz, using a 5B/6B encoding which keeps emissions low by using only relatively balanced ratios of the two states. The spec will indicate that the 4-pair version will operate at 100m on C3 or 150m on C5. Under good conditions, 200m on C3 and 350m on C5 have been accomplished. My impression is that this is over 4 pair using Quartet signalling. I've seen the net radius quoted at 600m for C3 and 122m for C5. I read that the IEEE "ratified" 100VG-AnyLAN on June 13, 1995. As of August, 1995, plans have been announced for full duplex 100VG-AnyLAN as well as 2PCat 5, 400Mbps, and 4Gbps versions. T100 - Proprietary high-speed Ethernet scheme that runs 50Mbps on 2 pair C3 or 100Mbps on 4 pair C3. Developed & sold exclusively by LAN Performance Labs. WaveBus - Proprietary high-speed Ethernet scheme that runs 100Mbps on multimode fiber. SwEthern - Switched Ethernet: really the same as Ethernet as far as standards go; just the use of Ethernet to attach a switch (i.e., multiport bridge) to a client or smaller group of clients. Typically, 10BASE-T would be used to interconnect the switch and the client. Since "Switch" has become an industry buzzword, things that used to be called a "Bridge" are now known as switches, especially models with more than two ports. Current industry jargon uses the term "Store and Forward Switching" for what used to be called bridging as opposed to "Cut Through Switching" and vendors of the two types will argue that one of these methods is superior to the other. Cut Through Switching means sending the packet on before it is completely received and implies very low-latency which is good for network services that alternate packets in each direction, but it transmits runts and erroneous packets. A modification of cut-through switching delays transmission for an Ethernet slot time and avoids transmitting runts. The latency of a Store and Forward switch depends upon the model--it is something to check on. They do not transmit either runts or erroneous packets and for doing so, they adhere to the IEEE 802 standard for bridges. The typical cut-through switch is clearly harder to build than a store-and-forward switch and was done that way on purpose to increase performance, but many customers feel a store and forward switch with good latency offers no significant performance disadvantage. Other factors aside from sheer performance: spanning-tree algorithm for loop detection; flow-control; Number of MAC addresses supported per port. FDSE - Full Duplex Ethernet: a variant of Switched Ethernet which does not use CSMA/CD, but uses slightly-modified network interface cards to send & receive packets simultaneously. Presumably based on 10BASE-T for most clients, and cannot be based on ThinWire or ThickWire Ethernet. Since the distance limitations imposed by CSMA/CD are eliminated, the only problem is how far a line can be driven. There have been proposals to support up to 50km on single mode fiber. PACE - Priority Access Control Enabled: 3Com's proprietary technology designed to reduce Ethernet overhead and latency by making an Ethernet switch and computer "take turns" sending packets, probably equivalent to a 2-node token bus. In effect, it takes advantage of the fact that with switched Ethernet, each "true Ethernet" has just two nodes on it which can cooperate to help utilization & latency. Plans are to adapt it to 100Mbps Ethernet also. Requires both special switch and changes to the user's computer. FDFastE - Full Duplex Fast Ethernet: 100BASE-T4 will not be able to support this while 100BASE-FX and 100BASE-TX will, given suitable electronics. 100BASE-TX remains electrically limited to 100 meters while 100BASE-FX can run 2km. isoENET - Isochronous Ethernet (also often called isoEthernet, a National Semiconductor Trademark). Also An adaptation of 10BASE-T to support another 6Mbps synchronous channel along with the 10Mbps CSMA/CD. Proposed by National Semiconductor. Uses 4B/5B encoding instead of 1B/2B encoding to get more data through. Carries ISDN channels over the wire along with Ethernet, i.e.: 96B+D+E (for Ethernet). Standardized by IEEE 802.9A. I've also heard that ITU H.320 is involved with standardizing the use of the 6Mbps channel. SwToken - analog of Switched Ethernet: each client gets a separate ring that interconnects it with a high-speed packet switch. FDToken - IBM scheme to add switching to token-ring hubs that would allow full-duplex linking to individual computers using modified token-ring adaptors. Has the same wiring characteristics as token ring. SwFDDI - Switched FDDI: really the same as FDDI as far as standards go: acts like a very fast multiport FDDI bridge. Basically the DEC GIGAswitch. Note that it can use all the PMD's for FDDI, thus for example can run 100m on 2PC5 or 40km on SMF. FFDT - FDDI Full Duplex Technology: DEC's proprietary modified FDDI that runs full duplex instead of "token passing" on their GIGAswitch FDDI switch and adaptors. They have a patent on their own method of detecting automatically whether a link is full-duplex, which requires extensions to SMT, the FDDI ring-management protocol, which they license to other vendors. Note that it can use all the PMD's for FDDI, thus for example can run on 100m on 2PC5 or 40km on SMF. FDFDDI - (for Full Duplex FDDI: I don't know the true name) I heard once that Cabletron is planning to offer full duplex FDDI but know nothing about any details or cooperation between vendors. Note that it can use all the PMD's for FDDI, thus for example can run 100m on 2PC5 or 40k on SMF. FDDIFOL - FDDI Follow On. An idea floated in the ANSI X3T9.5 committee for a method of multiplexing FDDI and ATM data on fiber at speeds up to 2.4Gbps. HIPPI-PH32 - ANSI HIPPI with a 32-bit-wide data transfer. Standardized by ANSI X3T11. HIPPI-PH64 - ANSI HIPPI with a 64-bit-wide data transfer. Standardized by ANSI X3T11. HIPPI-Ser "HIPPI-Serial" - HIPPI over fiber or coax; either as a transparent fiber extender for HIPPI-PH32 or HIPPI-PH64, or as a native host interface. Being standardized by ANSI X3T11. FibreChan - Fibre Channel: an ANSI standard for high-speed data transfer over fiber designed to do what HIPPI can do and more. It can be made to emulate HIPPI as well as various disk buses (SCSI, IPI, Block Mux) and can also carry LAN protocols, (IP, etc). Happens to use the same 8B/10B encoding as some flavors of ATM. Being standardized by ANSI X3T11 as ANSI X3.230.199x. FC-EP - Fibre Channel Enhanced Physical Interface: ANSI proposal for a faster version of Fibre Channel: 4Gbps or 16Gbps. Myrinet - Developed by Myricom. Full-duplex 640Mbps channels connecting hosts and switches. Uses 0.4" shielded, multiconductor cable (type CL2(?)). STS3cUNI - ATM Forum SONET STS-3c UNI, 155.52Mbps. Also called OC3. When you see references to 155Mbps ATM running over fiber, it almost always refers to this though the UNI spec includes another (see 155MbpsUNI, below). DS3UNI - ATM Forum DS3 UNI, 44.236Mbps. It borrows the Physical Layer Convergence Protocol from IEEE 802.6. E3UNI - Something like DS3 UNI only using the European equivalent to DS3? I assume it borrows the Physical Layer Convergence Protocol from IEEE 802.6. 100MbpsUNI - ATM Forum 100Mbps multimode fiber private UNI. Often called TAXI. Fore developed this, borrowing optical characteristics & basic encoding of FDDI, using AMD's "TAXI" chips. When you see the phrase "TAXI" or "100Mbps ATM", it almost always means this. 155MbpsUNI - ATM Forum 155Mbps private UNI. In two flavors: multimode and shielded twisted-pair. The multimode version is incomplatible with STS3cUNI. This version is for private networks only and presumably will be less expensive. I heard that a C5 version has been proposed. When you see the phrase "fiber 155Mbps ATM", it almost always doesn't mean this, but rather the SONET STS-3c version. When you see references to 155Mbps ATM over twisted pair, it almost always means this. TAXI/140 - ATM server/switch specification developed by Fore and often called 140Mbps TAXI. Like 100MbpsUNI, adapted from FDDI. I believe the only difference between this and the 100MbpsUNI is that this has the clock cranked up 40%. SONET/OC1 - We refer to a SONET-based ATM variant using fiber. SONET/OC3 - ATM Forum SONET/SDH UNI specification with OC3c/STM-1 framing. Variants of the underlying SONET spec use different media: multimode, single mode (short reach or long reach). SONET/OC12 - We refer to a SONET-based ATM variant using fiber. SONET/OC48 - We refer to a SONET-based ATM variant using fiber. ATMT1 - I don't know the actual name for a T1-based method supported by some vendors. It borrows the Physical Layer Convergence Protocol from IEEE 802.6. E1 is also presumably supported similarly. ForumT1 - I don't know the actual name for a T1-based ATM Forum UNI. Rather than DS1, this uses HEC framing as specified in ITU-T recommendataion G804. LST1 - I don't know the actual name for a proprietary method of supporting ATM through T1 which is sold by Lightstream. J2 - T2-like 6.3Mbps ATM interface. T2 (between T1 and T3) is not used in the US, but a version of it is widely used in Japan. ATM25 - 25.6Mbps private UNI proposed to ATM Forum by IBM. Borrows physical characteristics of 16Mb Token Ring (both operate at 32Mhz), gaining extra capacity by using FDDI's 4B5B encoding (on top of an NRZI code) in place of Token Ring's differential Manchester encoding. As of February 1995, it had been selected by the ATM Forum's PHY Group over STS-1/2. STS-1/2 - 25.9Mbps private UNI proposed by PMC-Sierra, an ATM chip supplier (I've also seen the term UniPhy-25 applied to it). It is proposed as an alternative to the IBM proposal. It uses SONET framing, thus an interface can share more hardware the SONET-based versions of ATM. Based on the forum's fractional SONET framing technology. As of February 1995 it was rejected by the ATM Forum's PHY working group. 51MbpsUNI - ATM Forum's "Mid-range Physical Layer Specification for Category 3 Unshielded Twisted-Pair". Uses AT&T's 16-CAP (Carrierless Amplitude Modulateion, Phase Modulation; a 16 constellation modem-type modulation scheme) line coding to transmit the signal. The transmission convergence layer (framing) conforms to the STS-1 SONET standard. It can run 160m on C5 cable. Also as a option, the equipment can be made to support longer distances by dropping to 1/2 or 1/4 speed. 1/2 speed uses CAP-4 encoding and 1/4 speed uses CAP-2 encoding. TUT51 - I don't know the actual name for Tut Systems' reported proprietary 51Mbps over C3 ATM technology. Uses NRZ encoding. TUT155 - I don't know the actual name for Tut Systems' reported proprietary 155Mbps over C3 ATM technology. Also uses NRZ encoding. I've read statements that seem to suggest this is supposed to be compatible with the C5 version of the 155MbpsUNI (or actually, an enlargment of that spec). The problems with running 155Mbps over C3 include single attenuation and near-end crosstalk. The TUT155 technology uses Next calcellators to keep crosstalk to a minimum. CAP64 - CAP-64 based 155.52Mbps Physical Media Dependent layer proposed to the ATM Forum. CAP-64 (stands for Carrierless Amplitude Modulation/Phase Modulation with a 64-point constellation) is analogous to CAP-16 (see 51MbpsUnNI above) etc. It achieves its speed despite running the cable at no more than 30Mhz and can comply with FCC Class-A and Class-B radiation requirements. ATMFrm100? - I don't know the actual name. ATM Forum UNI for 100Mbps over some sort of copper cable. I believe it is just 100MbpsUNI making use of FDDI's TP-PMD rather than the older fiber PMD. Packet Types Key: AppleTk - An AppleTalk packet. 5-603 bytes. ARCNET - An ARCNET packet. 1-508 bytes (excluding 254-256). Cell - An ATM 53-byte cell. Note: there are various proposals for how typical packets will be broken into cells and restored. Ethern - An Ethernet packet: 64-1518 bytes. Eth/To - Ethernet or Token Ring style packet. FDDI - An FDDI packet: 0-4478 bytes of data (total of 20 to 4495 bytes including header). FibreChn - A Fibre Channel packet. 128-2112 bytes. HIPPI-FP - Not really a packet: the framing specific to HIPPI. Myrinet - A Myrinet packet. To 8,368 bytes. TokenR - A Token Ring packet. Allows longer packets than Ethernet, among other things. 4-megabit Token Ring allows 4500 byte packets, 16-megabit token ring allows 17800 byte packets. Wiring Key: ?P - ? Pairs 100Pair - HIPPI 100pair cable. Coax or Cx - some sort of coax: don't know which kind Copper - some sort of copper connection C1 - Category 1 Unshielded Twisted Pair C3 - Category 3 Unshielded Twisted Pair C4 - Category 4 Unshielded Twisted Pair C5 - Category 5 Unshielded Twisted Pair Multimode - fiber Singlemode - fiber STP - Shielded Twisted Pair ThickWire - Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 Normal "Thick" Coax. ThinWire - Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 ThinWire Coax. Type1 - IBM Type 1 STP. Type2 - IBM Type 2 STP. UTP - Unshielded Twisted Pair Vendor support/products: (Note: this includes vendors' plans as well as their current products) 4Mb Token: IBM, etc 16Mb Token: IBM, etc LocalTalk: Apple, many vendors ARCNET: Thomas-Conrad, Contemporary Control Systems TCNS: Thomas-Conrad ThinWire: DEC, etc ThickWire: DEC, Intel, Xerox, etc 10BASE-T: many vendors FOIRL: many vendors 10BASE-FL: NCR, many vendors 10BASE-FB: Chipcom, IBM 10BASE-FP: Codenoll PMD: many vendors oldCDDI: Crescendo oldTP-FDDI: SDDI: IBM, 3Com, Madge, Network Peripherals, SysKonnect SMF-PMD: DEC LCF-PMD: TP-PMD: SynOptics, National Semiconductor, DEC, Cisco, NPI, 3Com, SysKonnect, UB Networks, ODS, Cabletron, IBM, Team Advanced Systems, Alfa, Chipcom, Distributed Systems International, Gambit, Proteon, Interphase, Memorex, Network Peripherals, NetWorth, Raylan, Rockwell, Xyplex, Xylan, GEC Plessey (chip), Motorola (MC68840 chip), Wolfson (chip) FDDI-II: Loral Federal Systems, Distributed Systems International, AWA Defense Industries (Austrialia) old4T+: old100B-X: Grand Junction 100BASE-T: SynOptics, Intel, Accton, Sun, DEC (DECchip 21140), 3Com, National Semiconductor, ODS, Cisco, Thomas-Conrad, Plexcom, TI, Compaq, Grand Junction, Fujitsu, SMC (SMC91C100 chip), Amber, Asante, Seeq (84C300 chip), LANNET, NetWorth, Apple, Netcom, Cogent, Asante, Bay, ANT, Olicom, Proteon, Dayna, Farallon, Rockwell, Kalpana 100BASE-TX: Grand Junction, National Semiconductor, Sun, SynOptics, David, Intel, DEC, 3Com, Cabletron, Wellfleet, Chipcom, Racal-Datacom, SMC, NCR, GEC Plessey (chip), NetWorth, NBase, Farallon, Cnet, Wolfson (chip) (See list for Fast Ethernet Alliance) 100BASE-FX: SynOptics, Plexcom, Grand Junction 100BASE-T4: 3Com, ATT, DEC, SynOptics, Intel, NCR, NetWorth, Broadcom (BCM5000 chip) (See list for Fast Ethernet Alliance) 100BASE-T8: 100BASE-T2: 100VG-AnyL: HP, ATT (Regatta 100 chip set), IBM, Proteon, UB Networks, SMC, ODS, DEC, D-Link, Andrew, Racore, Racal InterLan, Thomas-Conrad, 3Com, Alfa, TI (chips), Compaq, Cisco, D-Link, Ragula, Newbridge, Compex, Katron, Madge, Wellfleet, Bay, MultiMedia, Plaintree, Chipcom, Motorola (chips), AMC (chips), Pericom (chips), PureData, Kalpana T100: LAN Performance Labs WaveBus: Plaintree SwEthern: Kalpana, Artel, Alantec, Grand Junction, LANNET, Cabletron, 3Com, SynOptics, Synernetics, Hughes, Calios, SMC, NBase, NetWiz, IBM, Xedia, HP, Matrox, Plaintree, Chipcom, Amber, Network Peripherals, Retix, NiceCom (bought by 3Com), Fibronics, Fibermux, Onet, Agile, Ascom Timeplex, Bytex, OST, Plexcom, Bay, UB, Xylan, NetWorth, XNET, CrossComm, Allied Telesys, Cisco, NetVantage, ODS, Lantronix, Whitetree, Xpoint, XNET, Xedia, ANT, Klever, ORNET(ONET), XLNT FDSE: Cabletron, Kalpana, IBM, 3Com, Compaq, National Semiconductor, NCR, SEEQ, Texas Instruments, Cogent, HP, ODS, Sun, SynOptics, NBase, NetWiz, DEC, Hughes, LANNET, Alantec, Grand Junction, AMD PACE: 3Com. FDFastE: SynOptics, Intel, Kalpana, Grand Junction, 3Com isoENET: National Semiconductor, Ascom-Timeplex, Apple, IBM, ATT, Ericsson, Microsoft, Pacific Bell, Siemens AG, Zydacron, 3Com, Novell, Sun, Dell, Silicon Graphics, Oracle, Networks AB, Luxcom, Incite, Ascom Nexion, Luxom, Quicknet (See list for IncAlliance) SwToken: IBM, NetWiz, Ace North Hills, Madge, Chipcom, Centillion Networks, Bytex, ODS, SMC, SynOptics, Kalpana, 3Com, NetEdge, Bay, Cisco, NetVantage, Nashoba, Xylan FDToken: IBM SwFDDI: DEC, Centillion Networks FFDT: DEC, Distributed Systems International, CMD FDFDDI: Cabletron FDDIFOL: HIPPI-PH32: Acri, AMP, Ampex, AMCC, Avaika, Broadband Communications Products, Chi Systems, CNT, Convex, Cray Computer, Cray Research, Datatape, DEC, E-Mass, E-Systems, Essential Communications, Fujitsu, Genroco, GES, HP, Honeywell, Hytech, IBM, Intel, Lockheed, Loral Defense, MasPar, Maximum Strategy, Meiko Scientific, Methode, Myriad Logic, NEC, NetStar, NSC, Pacific Title Digital, PsiTech, Silicon Graphics, Siemens, Sony, Sun, Tera, Texas Instruments, Texas Memory Systems, Thinking Machines, Triplex Systems, TRW, Vertex, Zitel HIPPI-PH64: Cray, Network Systems, Broadband Communications Products, PsiTech HIPPI-Ser: Avaika, Broadband Communications Products, Essential Communications, NetStar, Tera FibreChan: Ancor, HP, IBM, Sun, Western Digital FC-EP: Myrinet: Myricom ATM (general): Fore, Newbridge, GTE, Fujitsu, ATT, Alcatel, General DataComm, Hughes, LightStream, NEC, NET, Network Systems, Northern Telecom, ODS, StrataCom, SynOptics, Telematics, TRW, ADC Kentrox, Cabletron, Cascade, Cisco, DEC, FastComm, Interphase, NetEdge, Efficient, ZeitNet, First Virtual, Agile, Whitetree, PMC-Sierra (PM7345 chip), Connectware, Thomas-Conrad, ATML, RADCOM, Tricord, Astarte, Philips, IBM, Mikroelektronik Anwendungszentrum Hamburg, Brooktree, National Semiconductor, TI, TransSwitch, Cypress, Raytheon (chip), Integrated Telecom Technology (chip), Xylan, HP, Silicon Graphics, Advanced Telecommunications Modules, Trancell, SysKonnect, 3Com, NiceCom Ltd (bought by 3Com), ZATM, UB Networks, Swindon Silicon Systems (chips), SMC, LSI Logic (chips), Fibermux, Grand Junction, Tandem, Centillion, NetWiz, LANNET, CrossComm STS3cUNI: Fore, SynOptics, Sun, TI (chip), NetEdge(FiberCom), Hughes, Cisco, 3Com, TransSwitch (chip), Alcatel, ATT, Fujitsu, General DataComm, GTE, Hughes, LightStream, NEC, NET, Network Systems, Newbridge, Northern Telecom, Telematics, TRW, DEC, Digital Link, Interphase, Network Peripherals, Odetics, Xyplex, PMC-Sierra (PM5346 chip), Olicom, Chipcom, Centillion Networks, RADCOM, AMCC (chip), Cypress (chip), SysKonnect, Allied Telesys, First Virtual, Bay, CrossComm DS3UNI: Fore, Cisco, Wellfleet, NetEdge(FiberCom), 3Com, TranSwitch (chip), Alcatel, Fujitsu, General DataComm, GTE, Hughes, LightStream, NEC, NET, Network Systems, Newbridge, Northern Telecom, StrataCom, SynOptics, Telematics, TRW, ADC Kentrox, Cascade, DEC, Digital Link, ODS, RADCOM, Brooktree (Chip), PMC (chip), Bay E3UNI: TranSwitch (chip), Alcatel, Hughes, LightStream, Network Systems, Newbridge, Northern Telecom, StrataCom, Telematics, ADC Kentrox, Cisco, RADCOM, Brooktree (chip), PMC (chip), General DataComm, Bay, Fore 100MbpsUNI: Fore, SynOptics, AMD (chip), Cisco, IBM, NET, General DataComm, Alcatel, General DataComm, GTE, LightStream, NEC, Newbridge, Cabletron, Digital Link, Interphase, NetEdge, Retix, Connectware, Chipcom, RADCOM, ZATM, Cisco, First Virtual, Bay 155MbpsUNI (Multimode): Sun? 155MbpsUNI (Type1/Type2): 155MbpsUNI (C5): Micro Linear Corp (chip), SynOptics, Sun, Network Peripherals, Northern Telecom?, Connectware, Interphase, Trancell, SysKonnect, GEC Plessey (chip), Wolfson (chip), Bay, Cisco, Fore TAXI/140: Fore, AMD, GTE SONET/OC1: Telco Systems, Cypress (chip) SONET/OC12: Fujitsu, PMC-Sierra (Chip), AMCC (chip), TI (chip) SONET/OC48: ATMT1: ADC/Kentrox, Stratacom, NEC, Telecommunications Techniques, RADCOM, General Datacom ForumT1: StrataCom, Telematics, FastComm, RADCOM, ADC/Kentrox, HyNet, Digital Link, NEC, General Datacom, Lightstream, Cascade, Telecommunications Techniques LST1: Lightstream J2: ATM25: IBM (including chip), Chipcom, TranSwitch (ALI-25 chip), National Semiconductor, HP, ATM Limited, Cellware GmbH, Centillion Networks, Integrated Device Technology (chips), LSI Logic, Madge, Olicom, Silcom, Whitetree, Fujitsu (chip), First Virtual, Advanced Telecommunications Modules, Efficient Networks, ODS, Xircom, RADCOM, Apple, On Demand, Interphase, Adaptec, Rockwell, Fore STS-1/2: PMC-Sierra (chip), Cabletron, Cisco, Fore, BNR, Cascade, DSC 51MbpsUNI: ATT, Newbridge, Northern Telecom?, Interphase, Silicon Design (chips) TUT51: Tut TUT155: Tut, UB Networks CAP64: Silicon Design (chips) ATMFrm100?: Glossary: ATM "Asynchronous Transfer Mode" - a communications protocol that transmits data in 53-byte cells using switches and various line transmission technologies operating at different speeds. A lot of people associate ATM with high speeds, but really it is more of a framework for networking that is speed independent and the link that carries ATM data can be fast or slow. DXI "Data Exchange Interface" - ATM Forum term. HIPPI - "High Performance Parallel Interface", defined by ANSI X3T11. HSSI "High Speed Serial Interface" - a 52Mbps interface between routers and DSUs, originally defined by Cisco and T#systems. It is also an ANSI standard. MAN "Metropolitan Area Network". Next "Near end crosstalk". Nway - name for 802.3 method of negotiating between 10BASE-T and 100BASE-T. OC-x "Optical Carrier level x" - A SONET term for an optically transmitted SONET signal at some particular speed. The base rate is 51.84Mbps. OC-1 runs at the base rate, OC-3 runs at 3 times the base rate, etc. Commonly planned rates are OC-1, OC-3 (155.52Mbps), OC-12 (622.08Mbps), and OC-48 (2.488Gbps). PLCP "Physical Layer Convergence Protcool". PMD "Physical Media Dependent". Term used to describe the layer of FDDI that determines the actual type of cable, etc. Also used in conjunction with other technologies, including ATM. SMT "Station Management" - Network management protocol specific to FDDI. SONET "Synchronous Optical Network" - A set of standard fiber-optic-based serial standards in North America. ATM runs as a layer on top of SONET (ATM also runs on top of other technologies). Developed by Bellcore and standardized by ANSI. Designed for telephone companies, for long-distance applications, but in the ATM world, being adapted to LAN uses. SDH "Synchronous Digital Hierarchy" - Similar to SONET, but used outside North America. Some of the SDH and SONET standards are identical, in particular, the versions at 155Mbps and above interoperate. Standardized by the ITU-T. See SONET (above). STM "Synchronous Transport Mode" - an SDH term. STS-x "Synchronous Transport Signal level x" - a SONET term for an electrically transmitted SONET signal at some particular speed. Each STS level corresponds to an OC level (see OC-x above). SWG - ATM Forum term for working group. TAXI "Transparent Asynchronous Transmitter-Receiver Interface" - literally, the name of a chip from AMD originally designed to handle Multimode FDDI. Also, the popular name of two ATM interfaces developed by Fore by adapting the FDDI multi-mode physical layer and the chips AMD produced to support that part of FDDI. The slower of the two (100Mbps) was adopted by the ATM Forum and the faster of the two (140Mbps) was not. UNI "User to Network Interface" - ATM Forum term. Organizations: (Note: a good resource is http://www.iol.unh.edu/consortiums/consortiums_homepage.html) ANSI - American National Standards Institute ANSI X3 - ANSI group developing standards for information processing. ANSI X3T9 - old ANSI group within X3 that was developing standards for I/O interfaces. ANSI X3T9.3 Committee - old name for ANSI X3T11 when it was part of X3T9. ANSI X3T9.5 Committee - old name for ANSI X3T12 when it was part of X3T9. ANSI X3T11 Committee - ANSI group standardizing HIPPI and Fibre Channel. ANSI X3T12 Committee - ANSI group within X3T9 that standarized FDDI, PMD, SMF-PMD, and is standardizing TP-PMD and LCF-PMD. IEEE - Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers IEEE 802 Group within IEEE that standardizes LAN technologies. IEEE 802.3 - Group within IEEE 802 that standardizes CSMA/CD LANs. IEEE 802.6 - Group within IEEE 802 that standardizes DQDB MANs. IEEE 802.9 - Group within IEEE 802 working on isoENET. IEEE 802.12 - Group within IEEE 802 working on 100VG-AnyLAN. ITU - International Telecommunications Union (formerly called the CCITT) ITU-T - ITU's Telecommunications Standards Sector. ATM Forum - Non-profit international industry consortium chartered to accelerate ATM acceptance & interoperability. Address: The ATM Forum; 303 Vintage Park Drive; Foster City, CA 94404-1138; 1(415)578-6860. Members include 3Com, 3DO, ADC Kentrox, AMP/ATM Systems, ATM Ltd, AT&T, SU-System, AWA Networks, Adaptec, Inc., AMD, AdvanceNet, Agile, Alantec, Alcatel, Allied Telesis, Ameritech, Apple, ascom Timeplex, BT Labs, Bear-Stearns & Co, Bell Atlantic, Bellcore, BellSouth, Bipolar Integrated Technology, Boeing, Bosch Telenorma, Broadband Technologies, Brooktree, Bull SA, CNT, COMSAT, CSELT, Cable & Wireless, Cablelabs, Cabletron, Centillion, Chipcom, Cisco, CompuServe, Cray Comm., Cray Research, CrossComm, Cypress, DSC Comm., Data Comm. Technology, David Sarnoff, DoD, Digiboard, DEC, Digital Link, Ericsson, E-Systems, Efficient Networks, Elec. & Telecom. Research, EXAR, Fore, France Telecom, Fujikura Technology America, Fujitsu, Furukawa Electric Tech., GPT Ltd., GTE Gov Systems, General DataComm, General Instrument, Graphics Comm., HP, Hitachi Telecom USA, Honeywell, Hughes LAN, IBM, IPC Info SYstems, Information Comm Inst Singapore, Integrated Device Technology, Integrated Telecom, Intel, Interphase, Joint Interoperability Test Center, KDD, Kalpana, LSI Logic, LANNET, Larscom, LLL, Lightstream, Loral Data Systems, MCI, MCNC, MFS, Madge, Microsoft, Mitel, Mitre, Mitsubishi, Motorola, Multimedia, NEC, NET/ADAPTIVE, NTT, NYNEX, National Inst. of Standards & Tech, National Semiconductor, NetEdge, Netrix, Network Communications, Network General, Network Peripherals, Netowrk Systems, Newbridge, Nokia, Northern Telecom, Novell, OKI, Olicom, OST, PMC Sierra, Pacific Bell, Philips, Proteon, QPSX, Quality Semiconductor, Racal-Datacom, Raynet, Raytheon, SGS-Thomson, SITA, Sandia National Labs, Scientific Atlanta, Siecor, Siemens, Sierra Research & Technology, Silicon Graphics, Silicon Systems, Sony, Southwestern Bell, Sprint, SMC, Stratacom, Sumitomo Electric, Summa Four, Sun, SuperNet, SynOptics, T3plus Neworking, TRW, TTC, Tekelec, Tektronix, Telco Systems, Telecom Finland, Telecom Italia, Telefonica I&D, Telematics International, Ltd., Telenex, Telia, Tellabs, Telogy, Telstra, Texas Instruments, RAD, Thomson-CSF, Toshiba, Transwitch, Trillium Digital Systems, TriQuint, US WEST, UB, Unisource Business, Unisis, VLSI Technology, VTT Information Tech, Valor Electronics, Verilink, Wellfleet Communications, Whitetree Network Technologies, WilTel, Xerox Parc, Xylan, Zeitnet, Zynrgy Group. PHY SWG - working group within the ATM Forum which deals with the physical technologies. Desktop ATM25 Alliance - Coalition of 25 companies to develop the ATM25 specification and submit it to the ATM Forum. Members include IBM, Madge, Centillion Networks, Chipcom, Efficient Networks, First Virtual, Olicom, ODS, Xircom, Apple, On Demand, Interphase, LSI Logic, Fujitsu, Transwitch, Advanced Telecommunications Moldules Ltd., and Whitetree. Fast Ethernet Alliance (FAE) - Now disbanded; was group of vendors working on the three variants of 100BASE-T/100BASE-F. Their stated reason for disbanding was that whereas the standards process was initially assisted by having a consortium to do the groundwork for the IEEE, with the ratification of the standard, the IEEE 802.3 committee has the process well in hand. Members included: 3Com, Cabletron, DAVID, DEC, Grand Junction, Intel, LANNET, National Semiconductor, SEEQ, SMC, Sun, Du Pont, Exar, IMC, JLP, LMC, Microlinear, NEC, Olympic Technology, Unisys, NetWorth, CNet, Cray, Hughes, Hyundai, Interphase, Montrose, Network General, Novell, Packet Engines Inc., ODS, Asante, Bay (both Synoptics and Wellfleet were members). Full Duplex Switched Ethernet Consortium - Group of vendors that are working out the details of FDSE. Members include: Cabletron, Compaq, IBM, Kalpana, National Semiconductor, NCR, SEEQ, and Texas Instruments. Fibre Channel Systems Initiative (FCSI) - Group of vendors trying to accelerate Fibre Channel acceptance & interoperability. Members include: HP, IBM, Sun. HIPPI Networking Forum - Consortium of vendors (initially 11) to promote the use of HIPPI. Members include: AMMC, Avaika, Broadband, E-Systems, Essential, IBM, Loral Defense, Los Alamos National Lab, Maximum Strategy, Methode, Myriad Logic, NSC, NetStar, PsiTech, Silicon Graphics, Triplex Systems, TRW, University of Illinois, and University of Minnesota. 100VG-AnyLAN Forum - Group of vendors trying to accelerate 100VG-AnyLAN acceptance & interoperability. Charter members include ATT, HP, IBM, ODS, Proteon, UB, Wellfleet. Address: North Highland,s CA, Phone number: 1(916)348-0212. Universisty of New Hampshire InterOperability Lab - Organization designed to improve the operation of hetrogeneous networks. See http://www.iol.unh.edu/. IncAlliance "Isochronous network communciation alliance" - Group of vendors working together to foster and manage the deployment of isoEthernet. Members include (as of 8/95) Apple, Ascom Nexion, AT&T, DataBeam, Ericsson, Future Labs, IBM, Incite, Luxcom, MCI, Mitel, National, Pacific Bell, Primary Rate, Quicknet, Siemens, Rolm, Vcon, Zydacron. Selected Major Vendors' Activities: (note: virtually all deal with 10BASE-T and older Ethernet styles and multimode PMD FDDI; Many are members of the ATM Forum, but I don't have a list of members) Computer vendors: IBM - primary proponent of 4Mb Token, 16Mb Token, SwToken, FDToken, ATM25; active in TP-PMD, 100VG-AnyL, SwEthern, FDSE, isoENET, 100MbpsUNI, 10BASE-FB, FibreChan, 10BASE-FB, SDDI, HIPPI-PH32,; consortiums: Full Duplex Switched Etherent, Fibre Channel Systems Initiative, 100VG-AnyLAN Forum, ATM Forum, HIPPI Networking Forum. DEC - primary proponent of SwFDDI and FFDT; active in SMF-PMD, TP-PMD, 100BASE-TX, 100BASE-T4, 100VG-Anyl, FDSE, STS3cUNI, DS3UNI, HIPPI-PH32; consortiums: Desktop ATM25 Alliance, ATM Forum. Sun - active in 100BASE-TX, FDSE, FibreChan, STS3cUNI, C5 155MbpsUNI, HIPPI-PH32, isoENET; consortiums: Fibre Channel Systems Initiative, ATM Forum. Apple - primary proponent of LocalTalk; active in isoENET, ATM, ATM25, 100BASE-T; consortiums: ATM Forum, Desktop ATM Alliance. HP - primary proponent of 100VG-AnyL; active in SwEthern, FDSE, FibreChan, ATM25, HIPPI-PH32; consortiums: Fiber Channel Systems Initiative; 100VG-AnyLAN Forum, ATM Forum. Compaq - active in FDSE, 100VG-AnyL, 100BASE-T; consortiums: Full Duplex Switched Ethernet Consortium. Software vendors: Microsoft - active in isoENET; consortiums: ATM Forum. Novell - consortiums: ATM Forum. Datacomm equipment vendors: 3Com - primary proponent of PACE; active in TP-PMD, 100BASE-TX, 100BASE-T4, SwEthern, FDSE, STS3cUNI, DS3UNI, 100VG-AnyL, ATM; consortiums: ATM Forum. SynOptics - active in TP-PMD, 100BASE-TX, 100BASE-FX, 100BASE-T4, SwEthern, FDSE, FDFastE, STS3cUNI, 100MbpsUNI, 155MbpsUNI; consortiums: ATM Forum. Cabletron - active in FDFDDI, TP-PMD, 100BASE-TX, SwEthern, FDSE, 100MbpsUNI; consortiums: Full Duplex Switched Ethernet Consortium, ATM Forum. Cisco - primary proponent of TP-PMD; active in 100BASE-T, STS3cUNI, DS3UNI, E3UNI, 100MbpsUNI, 100VG-AnyL; consortiums: ATM Forum. Wellfleet - active in 100BASE-TX, DS3UNI; consortiums: 100VG-AnyLAN Forum, ATM Forum. Bay - (see Wellfleet & Synoptics; I'll add items here when I see explicit news releases about Bay's plans). Chip manufacturers: Intel - active in 100BASE-TX, 100BASE-T4, FDFastE; consortiums: ATM Forum. Motorola - consortiums: ATM Forum. Texas Instruments - active in 100BASE-T, 100VG-AnyL, STS3cUNI, FDSE; consortiums: Full Duplex Switched Ethernet Consortium, ATM Forum. Some History: 100BASE-T: The idea spurred three proposals: HP's 100BASE-VG which doesn't use CSMA/CD, and two CSMA/CD proposals, 4T+ and 100BASE-X. Some IEEE 802.3 members objected to 802.3 working on a non-CSMA/CD proposal since "by definition", that group worked on standardizing CSMA/CD networks. That held up standardization efforts for a while, but finally a new group 802.12 was formed. All three proposals still live: 100BASE-VG was expanded to also carry Token-Ring style packets and renamed 100VG-AnyLAN; 100BASE-X is now called 100BASE-TX, and 4T+ is now called 100BASE-T4. TP-PMD: Several vendors introduced priorietary methods of running FDDI over coax & twisted-pair. Crescendo's CDDI was adopted by ANSI with modifications (of course) as TP-PMD and for a while Crescendo still used the term CDDI for their standard products, but Cisco (who bought Crescendo) has dropped the trademark on the term so the industry can apply it to TP-PMD. Other methods were DEC's methods for running it over STP and Ethernet ThinNet-style coax, IBM's SDDI for shielded twisted-pair, and the other UTP competitor: TP-FDDI. SDDI is still marketed. ATM: Proposals date back at least to mid-80s. The technology grew out of efforts for a new type of switching for both voice and data for nation-wide networks, and the famous 53-byte cell was originally proposed to be even smaller by those interested in voice transmission. Several vendors proposed it as a future LAN technology and then helped form the ATM Forum to push the technology. The ATM Forum seems to be a model for a new type of organization: not a standards organization, but a group of vendors who write "protocol definition documents" and propose them to the standards bodies, hoping to get them through without any signficant changes, and remaining comfortable that they can sell it well enough to create a defacto standard if need be. An interesting result is that whereas standards bodies are very open in their standards-defining process, these organizations are private and do their writing & discussing in secret. The organizations are typically funded by membership fees, and few companies other than network equipment vendors are willing to put up the money. ATM25 vs 51MbpsUNI vs STS-1/2: These are competing standards for the low end desktop ATM, i.e. UTP. IBM pushed ATM25 and some other companies pushed a 51Mbps standard. The Forum initially decided picked the 51Mbps standard, rejecting the other so as to maintain focus, but in February 1995, after the ATM25 porposal was resubmitted as well as another competitive proposal (PCM-Sierra's STS-1/2), the Forum chose to move forward with ATM25. References: ATM Forum *ATM User-Network Interface Specification Version 3.0* (Prentice Hall, 1993, ISBN: 0-13-225863-3). Doug Barr *comp.dcom.lans.fddi FAQ* (Usenet News FAQ Memo). Fast Ethernet Alliance *100Base-X Physical Layer Specification for Fast Ethernet* Version 1.0 (Fast Ethernet Alliance, October 15 1993). Fast Ethernet Alliance *100BASE-T 4T+ Physical Layer Specification for UTP Category 3/4/5 wiring, Section 1.0 Specification Overview* (Fast Ethernet Alliance, December 1993). HP Networking White Paper *100VG-AnyLAN: The Natural Evoluation of Ethernet and Token Ring* (Available through HP FIRST: 800-333-1917, number 7579, 2/1/94). HP Networking Backgrounder *100BASE-VG* (Available through HP FIRST: 800-333-1917, number 7509). HP Networking Application Note *100VG-ANYLAN: A Technical Overview* (Available through HP FIRST: 800-333-1917, number 7567, 2/1/94). 100VG-Forum *100VG-Forum A Technical Overview* (100VG-Forum Application Note, 8p., 5/94?). Same as the HP Network Application Note. Sidhu, et al *Inside AppleTalk, Second Edition* (Addison-Wesley, 1990, ISBN: 0-201-55021-0) Carl Symborski *comp.dcom.cell-relay FAQ: ATM, SMDS, and related technologies* (Usenet News FAQ Memo). Greg Watson, Alan Albrecht, Joe Curcio, Daniel Dove, Steven Goody, John Grinham, Michael P. Spratt, and Patricia A. Thaler "The Demand Priority MAC Protocol", *IEEE Network* (Vol. 9 No 1). Paper on the MAC layer used by 100VG-AnyLAN. Grenville J. Armitage & Keith M. Adams "How Inefficient is IP over ATM Anyway"", *IEEE Network* (Vol. 9 No 1). Paper on the overhead associated with using ATM to transmit data. Issues: Factors that will decide the winners: (1) Customer demand for more speed at a lower price. Full-motion video is on the way & file servers remain popular. (2) How quickly various products are brought to market. (3) How quickly various standards stabilize. (4) Customers' installed wiring plants. Something that can run on any line currently running 10BASE-T will have some advantage. (5) Customers' installed NICs. A couple of the technologies require no change. (6) Cost of any new equipment or media that is needed. (7) Interoperability between existing customer equipment: If customers need to connect an X server to a Y client, and perhaps necessarily through a Z piece of networking equipment, they will need a technology supported by X and Y (and perhaps Z). (8) Packet formats: weighing the advantages over simplified bridging due to using a technology that uses a current packet technology. (9) Need for new network software, possibly up to application level. ATM might become "just another LAN technology" or might revolutionize everything and take over, eliminating traditional routers. The latter would require considerable change in a lot of software. Who's writing such software? Any real efforts to propogate it to as many end nodes as currently use 10BASE-T? (10) Distance limitations: high-speed CSMA/CD is OK for short distances, but CSMA/CD would have to be "disabled" to run higher speeds over some distances. In particular, 100mbps CSMA/CD with Ethernet-sized packets (512 bits minimum) has a radius (maximum distance) of 250 meters including two repeaters. Without repeaters, it can be extended to about 400 meters. (11) Ability to offer expensive technology only to needed locations efficiently: customer sites often have a relatively small percentage of users who need higher-speed technology, and they aren't always co-located. (12) Potential to integrate LANs and WANs. ATM has been projected to blur the distinction, making things easier. (13) Danger of integrating your LANs too closely with those of other organizations: do you want, in effect, your competition sharing your LAN? All the high-schools and colleges throughout the world? Lots of sites set up extra firewalling before attaching their LAN to the present Internet. (14) Customers' and vendors' desire to pick a long-term winner: customers listen to vendor announcements and vendors ask customers what they are likely to buy, both wait a while, and worry about what to commit to. Predicting the future is never easy, and never certain. The hypothetical perfect technology: (1) No translation bridging required (2) Uses current NICs (3) Supports large packets (4) No doubt of success & long future (5) Huge market & lots of vendors (6) Low cost (7) Runs long distances (8) Runs over 2PC3 (9) Runs over WANs as easy as LANs (10) No high-cost/high-maintenance routers acting as bottlenecks

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