By Abdul Rahman Malik
As we peep in the history of Networking we will find that in 1971, the researchers at the University of Hawaii developed the world's first WLAN , or in full form the wireless local area network which was named as ALOHAnet .The ALOHAnet was supposed to be the bi-directional or two way directional star topology of the system which included seven computers deployed over four islands in order to communicate with the central computer on the Oahu Island without using phone lines for connection or data transfer.
Genuinely ,WLAN or wireless Local Area Network hardware was so expensive for the companies that it was only used as an alternative method to cabled LAN in places where cabling was supposed to be difficult or impossible for the purposes of data transfer. The early developments and improvements included the industry-specific solutions and proprietary protocols but at the end of the 1990s these were replaced by standards, primarily the various versions of IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) protocols . The alternative ATM-like 5 GHz standardized technology,the HIPERLAN, has so far not succeeded in the market and that's why had little demand for installation.But with the release of the faster 54 Mbit/s 802.11a (5 GHz) and 802.11g (2.4 GHz) standards, almost very fast and fruitful and authentic means of Wireless technology .
While in November 2006, the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) won a legal battle in the US federal court of Texas against Buffalo Technology which established the US manufacturer had failed to pay royalties on a US WLAN patent CSIRO had filed in 1996. The CSIRO are currently engaged in the legal cases which are related to computer companies including the IT giants Microsoft, Intel, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Netgear which argue that the patent is invalid and should negate any royaltiesbeing paid to CSIRO for WLAN-based products or applications.
Copyright 2007 Associated Content, Inc.
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