Rationale, directions, and issues surrounding high speed networks

An examination is made of the rationale behind the need for ever higher networking speeds, the technological developments that are making them possible on a commercial basis, the directions being taken in their development, and the issues surrounding their construction and use. Roadblocks to providing high-speed networks are discussed. The impact of standardization efforts on development efforts is considered, focusing on the HSC channels, the fiber distributed data interface (FDDI), and metropolitan- and wide-area networks (MANs and WANs). Possibilities for future technologies and architectures are described.>