Ethernet's Emergence from Xerox PARC -- April 13, 2022 IEEE Webinar
June 06, 2022
Ethernet's Emergence from Xerox PARC
| Time | Speaker/Panelist(s) | Description |
| 0:00:00 | Tom Coughlin | Introduction to the IEEE Santa Clara Valley (SCV) Technology History Committee |
| 0:01:44 | Geoff Thompson | Introduction of panelists; Agenda |
| 0:18:21 | Bob Metcalfe | Xerox PARC Ethernet: Invention, key technologies and contributions |
| 0:27:05 | David Liddle | Initial Xerox Ethernet products; Managing expectations for Ethernet in corporate Xerox |
| 0:45:32 | Gordon Bell | DEC VAX networking strategy; Ethernet as "unifying key to 5th generation" computers |
| 1:05:41 | Bob Metcalfe | Consulting for DEC's interconnect strategy task force; Petitioning Xerox to partner on Ethernet |
| 1:08:47 | David Liddle | Managing Ethernet's emergence from Xerox; Insisting on compliance to Ethernet license |
| 1:12:08 | Bob Metcalfe | Introducing Intel to Ethernet; catalyst to start 3Com |
| 1:13:57 | Liddle, Shoch, Metcalfe | Interactions with IBM over Ethernet |
| 1:19:10 | David Liddle | Decision making culture at IBM & Xerox; Xerox relinquishes trademark protection for Ethernet |
| 1:22:56 | Dave Redell, Rich Seifert | Collaboration between DEC, Intel, and Xerox (DIX) on the 10-mbps Ethernet "Blue Book" spec |
| 1:31:37 | Rich Seifert | Crafting a robust physical layer spec; New DC-voltage-level detection of collisions on cable |
| 1:37:21 | Roy Ogus | Xerox SDD 3 and 10-mbps Ethernet/XeroxWire adapters for D0 and Dandelion workstations |
| 1:43:04 | Robert Garner | Show & tell: Tat Lam's Ethernet transceiver, Alto & Dandelion/Star workstations & Ethernet adapters |
| 1:59:47 | Bob Belleville | From minis to Macintosh's AppleTalk; Intel 8086 PC prototype in Xerox SDD (Cub) |
| 2:06:27 | Thompson, Tom Gardner | Q&A session: |
| 2:06:41 | Rich Seifert | Did DEC & Intel prototype 10-mbps Ethernet adapters during DIX spec timeframe? |
| 2:10:10 | Hal Murray, Shoch, Siefert | Xerox's PUP & XNS internet protocols vs. TCP/IP; Xerox's Ethernet infrastructure; 48b addresses |
| 2:22:14 | Geoff Thompson | Was Ethernet's progression from a few megabits/sec to today's gigabits/sec anticipated? |
| 2:24:19 | Thompson & Seifert | Why aren't Ethernet/Metcalfe & Boggs likened to Telegraph/Morse and Telephone/Bell? |
| 2:25:56 | Geoff Thompson | Thanks and acknowledgments! |
Tat Lam Passes Away
March 04, 2022
David Boggs Passes Away
February 28, 2022
Xerox Ethernet Pioneers in 2019
June 14, 2019
L to R: (Larry Masinter,) (Paul McJones,) Hal Murray, Roy Ogus, Bill Lynch, (Shannon McElyea,) Robert Garner, John Shoch, Geoff Thompson
The 3Com Story
May 17, 2019
In Memory of Ron Crane
August 28, 2017
Metcalfe's Law After 40 Years of Ethernet
October 15, 2015
Ethernet at 40! May 23, 2013
October 15, 2015
CHM: Happy 40th Birthday, Ethernet!
L to R: Dan Pitt, Norm Abramson, Dave House, Bill Hawe, Yogen Dalal, xxx, Judy Estrin, Geoff Thompson, Pat Thaler, Ron Crane, Radia Perlman, Bob Metcalfe, Andy Bechtolsheim, David Boggs.
Ethernet Lobby at Stanford Huang Center
December 12, 2010
The Ethernet Lobby at the Stanford School of Engineering's new Jen-Hsun Huang Engineering Center is a gift from many Stanford faculty and students who contributed to the invention, productization, standardization and commercialization of Ethernet. Those making this gift played key roles in Ethernet's success. Ethernet was invented in 1973 at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center by Bob Metcalfe (also at that time on the faculty at Stanford and one of my PhD thesis advisors) and David Boggs (also at that time a fellow graduate student at Stanford.)
Len Shustek, John Shoch, Robert Garner, Yogen Dalal, Ron Crane
Roy Ogus, John Wakerly, David Liddle, Robert Garner, Ron Crane
Computer History Museum 2008 Fellows Award
August 24, 2008
Bob Metcalfe receives this award for fundamental contributions in the invention, standardization, and commercialization of Ethernet.
David Boggs, Ron Crane and Bob Metcalfe at the event.
Ethernet History Timeline
September 01, 2007
The interactive Ethernet history timeline is based on the Ethernet poster Mayfield Fund commissioned for the 25th anniversary at Vortex 1998.
Omissions and errors will be rectified, and seminal events since then will be added to the timeline.
Seminal Publications
September 01, 2007
Important papers, publications and books are listed with links on the left column to enable authors to comment through this post about interesting aspects and recollections of their work. If necessary a dedicated post can easily be created.
An interesting observation is that most of the seminal work around Ethernet was done at Xerox. The major influence from outside produced the CAT5 wiring and star topology for ease of installation and maintenance, and it is now the most common configuration for wired Ethernet.
Ethernet @ 30, May 22, 2003
August 31, 2007
Xerox PARC
David Boggs and Bob Metcalfe
Ed McCreight, Gordon Bell and David Liddle
John Shoch and David Boggs
Pitts Jarvis, Bob Garner and Ron Crane
Bob Printis and David Liddle
Photographs courtesy of PARC. Photographer is Deanna Horvath
25th Anniversary at Vortex 1998
August 31, 2007
Ethernet at 20 in 1993
August 31, 2007
John Shoch, Bob Metcalfe, Ron Crane, David Boggs
DEC-Intel-(3Com)-Xerox and IEEE 802.3
August 30, 2007
After leaving Xerox to start 3Com, Bob Metcalfe contacted Gordon Bell (DEC), and then persuaded David Liddle (Xerox) and Phil Kaufman (Intel) to bring their respective organizations to work together to create a new standard that has lasted over 25 years and has gone from local area nertworks, to wireless networks to high speed wide area networks. The engineering groups at DEC, Intel and Xerox brought their respective skills in hardware, semi-conductors and distributed computing to ensure that this standard would last for a long time. David Redell (Xerox), Rich Seifert (DEC) and Rob Ryan (Intel) created Version 1.0 of the Ethernet Specification on September 30, 1980, and Bob Printis (Xerox) represented Ethernet to the IEEE standards body to create IEEE 802.3 .
Genesis of 3Com
August 30, 2007
X-Wire
August 30, 2007
In 1977 the Xerox Star team began working on X-Wire, a 20 Mbps version of the PARC Ethernet XWire Draft Spec. The speed of X-Wire was reduced to 10 Mbps because the higher speed reduced the length of a coax cable segment to below 500m, and also because the typical spacing for the transceiver taps produced undesirable reflections. The 10 Mbps X-Wire became the starting point for the DIX Ethernet Specification.
Those Early Years at Xerox PARC
August 30, 2007
Ethernet has changed the way we connect computers and its simplicity is what has made it so popular. The idea was influenced by Bob Metcalfe's PhD Thesis and documented in his landmark May 22, 1973 memo.
Bob Metcalfe -- 1973
Bob Metcalfe and Ron Rider -- 1974
David Boggs and an Alto Ethernet card
David Boggs