4
INTRODUCTION
Thank you for choosing the 10/100Mbps PCI bus
Fast Ethernet Card, the value leader among Fast
Ethernet adapters for PCI
−
Bus personal
computers. This Introduction chapter will be
useful if you are new to Fast Ethernet and other
new technology featured by the 10/100Mbps PCI
bus Fast Ethernet Card. Otherwise, skip ahead to
the Installation chapter.
About Fast Ethernet
Fast Ethernet is a network technology specified
by IEEE Standard 802.3u. It extends the
traditional 10Mbps Ethernet technology to
achieve 100Mbps transmission and reception,
while retaining the same CSMA/CD Ethernet
protocol. Thus while Fast Ethernet provides a
tenfold increase in network capacity, it is wholly
compatible with traditional 10Mbps Ethernet
network facilities.
About Auto-negotiation
Auto-negotiation is an IEEE 802.3 procedure of
negotiating the highest data flow capability
between the device (in this case, our Adapter) and
their links partner (some other device). The data
flow information, to be negotiated, consists of the
data speed (10Mbps or 100Mbps) and data
transfer (half-duplex or full-duplex
communication). The physical process of
auto-negotiation requires only a few milliseconds
to choose the fastest communications capability
between the two devices.
