Hewlett-Packard Company has introduced a LAN (local area network) that uses unshielded twisted pair wire to transmit data at 10 Mbits per second. Designated Starlan 10 because it is an Ethernet-type network using a star topology, the LAN will significantly reduce the per node connection cost for high-speed data transfer because it can use installed telephone wiring. Until now Starlan, which is distinguishable from other Ethernet LANs in that it does not use coaxial or fiber optic cable, has been limited to a speed of 1 Mbit per second. While the cost of most Ethernet LANs is well in excess of $1,000 per node, the H-P Starlan 10 will be priced well under $900 per node.
A LAN provides full connectivity among devices over a single set of wires, and uses software that allows heterogeneous (i.e., incompatible) devices to talk to one another. A baseband system like Ethernet carries a single channel and transmits signals across a transceiver without changing them through modulation. A broadband LAN uses frequency division multiplexing to divide each channel into a number of smaller channels so that data, voice, and video can be transmitted simultaneously.
Starlan 10 includes a Starlan 10 Hub, a 12 port box that can attach, in daisy-chain fashion, up to 12 terminals or workstations and other hubs, thus allowing the network to support up to 144 devices. The Starlan 10 Hub can be connected to an Ethernet LAN coaxial cable backbone or to a 1 Mbit per second Starlan network.
[Synoptics, a much smaller company which aims its products primarily at the PC market, introduced its version of a 10 Mbits per second Starlan network within days of the H-P announcement. Digital Equipment Corporation is also expected to announce a 10 Mbits per second twisted pair Starlan product later this month.]
