1). The original 10-Mbit/s coax systems have mostly been replaced by 100Mbit/s twisted-pair Fast Ethernet. A newer version handles 1 Gbit/s on CAT5 (Category 5) wiring as an LAN backbone or to the desktop.
The 1- and 10-Gbit/s optical fiber versions of Ethernet will ensure a continuation of this flexible and endurable technology. The 1-Gbit Ethernet (1 GE) configuration is being widely adopted in large LAN backbones and storage-area networks (SANs). Already, 1-GE systems are showing up in new metro networks. No 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10 GE) systems are yet in operation, but these will find applications in large fast LANs and SANs, metro networks, and even WANs replacing Sonet systems. Ethernet has also been blessed as the de facto industrial networking standard too.
What's next for Ethernet, 100 Gbits/s? Not right away, as the technology isn't there yet. Most likely, a 40-Gbit/s version will take advantage of available Sonet OC-768 semiconductor technology and provide some compatibility with Sonet in the metro and long-haul networks.
Additionally, Ethernet has come to dominate wireless networking. Wireless is increasingly becoming the physical layer of choice in many LANs, and the IEEE 802.11b Ethernet has become the de facto standard. The latter has flourished because the Wi-Fi consortium ensures interoperability between many vendors' equipment. Prices have dropped due to competition and more widespread acceptance.
Wireless Ethernet also has a life. The recently approved 802.11g standard offers a speed upgrade path for 802.11b to 22 Mbits/s, and even 54 Mbits/s. And, 5-GHz 802.1la standard products are slowly rolling out.
Frontiers for Growth: Aside from opportunities for expansion in the metro network arena, several major sectors will experience growth: mesh networks, home networks, cell-phone networking, broadband, UWB, and security.
The classical network topology is the mesh, where all nodes are connected to each other.