Microwave Bypass, Inc. launched the world's first fixed wireless internet access technology in 1987, a decade before

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

. It enabled local and remote networks to connect at the then full Ethernet (802.3) data rate of 10 megabits per second, and for up to 4.3 miles. The company was founded in March 1986 by David Theodore (25), operating from One

Kendall Square Kendall Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The square itself is at the intersection of the Main Street and Broadway. It also refers to the broad business district east of Portland Street, northwest of the Charl ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. Its wireless solution consisted of a modified broadcast quality video radio (23 GHz) coupled with Microwave Bypass' EtherWave Transceiver. The system met the then highest Ethernet throughput and could transmit , in keeping with Ethernet's propagation delay allowance (46.4 μs). Beta testing occurred at Massachusetts General Hospital in March 1987, at the invitation of network manager, David Murphy, and with Network World's Laura DiDio and representatives of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

's Dr. Mikhail Orlov in attendance. After a successful demo the first two production links were installed in parallel between

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and Harvard's Cardiac Computer Center, across the

Charles River The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...

. This also marked the first wireless transmission of MR images. In 1988, Microwave Bypass collaborated with

Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, m ...

on a full-duplex EtherWave Transceiver to eliminate 802.3 collision detection and permit longer distance connections as far as the microwave could reach. This first full-duplex design was developed for an application at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

, between its main campus and Lincoln Laboratories. Later that year Microwave Bypass completed an exclusive deal, announced by

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...

,Motorola Press Release for the transfer of its EtherWave Transceiver and LAN-LINK 1000 Bridge technologies.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *{{cite journal , author = David Theodore , year = 2021 , title = Collected Works of David Theodore , journal = Collected Works of David Theodore , volume = , issue = , pages = , url = https://www.davidtheodore.com/ , doi = 1986 establishments in Massachusetts American companies established in 1986