TRENDnet TE100-PCIA Manual - Page 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. 4