Technology 1991: data communications

Significant developments during 1990 are examined, and future trends are delineated. Two major events were the rapid acceptance by end users of the 10BASE-T standard for Ethernet interconnections using unshielded twisted-pair wiring and the widespread acceptance of the fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) by corporate planners and MIS (management information system) people, as well as government planners, as the way to wire the corporate backbone. 1990 also saw commercialization begin of the FDDI interface by which data is transmitted on an optical-fiber network at 100 Mb/s rates. The development of twisted-pair wiring for Ethernet and FDDI will lead to integration of Ethernet. Token Ring, and FDDI local networks in one concentrator in one wiring closet, while the pace of growth of the LAN market continues to accelerate. The seven layers of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) protocol received a big boost last year from the US government, and it is likely to become the routine way of organizing data networks worldwide