The Evolution of Wireless Local Area Networking

In the beginning…

The world's first Wireless Local Area Network (LAN) was built at Hawaii University in 1971 by Dr. Norman Abramson who was reputedly attracted to the island more by his passion for windsurfing rather than necessarily the academic excellence of the institution.

Regardless, it was here that ALOHAnet (yes really!) was born. The architecture of the network was based upon a simple hub and spoke topology with each radio listening to the network to ensure it was available prior to it transmitting data. Ironically, it was this simple protocol that formed the basis for Ethernet as defined later that decade by Bob Metcalfe at Xerox Park, California.

Error correction was simply dealt with by the receiving station echoing back each packet to the transmitting station, which would verify an exact match to determine data integrity. In contrast to today's multi-layered protocols the design, whilst simple, was effective as the throughput of 80 characters per second compared admirably with modem data rates of the time that were typically achieving 300 bits per second.

In 1985 the FCC (United States Federal Communications Commission) paved the way for the wireless LAN revolution by validating the 2.4GHz band open for unlicensed use. Commonly referred to as the ISM band (Industrial Scientific and Medical) the 2.4GHz was also frequently called the 'Garbage Band' on account of the fact that microwave ovens also operate in this frequency; a fact that probably featured prominent in the motivation for making it available for general use!