Technology '90: data communications

The growing use of local area networks during 1989 is examined. The fiber distributed data interface (FDDI), a 100 Mb/s dual-ring, optical fiber LAN that is nearing approval by the American National Standards Institute, is discussed. Other developments reviewed are the increasing support for the Internet Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, setbacks in promoting the OSI (open systems interconnection) approach due mainly to the scarcity of products and weak sales, work on ways to bridge the two sets of protocols, and the emergence of high-speed networking as a viable technology.<
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