Econet is an abbreviation of Economy Network. It was used in the early 1980s by Acorn to provide computer networking for the BBC Micro. Modules were later produced for the BBC Master and Master Compact models, which were even used in the Acorn Archimedes series.

Econet is a 5-wire bus network. One pair of wires are used for the clock, one pair for data transmission and one wire is a common ground.

Connections were established using a four-way handshake. The sender would broadcast

There could be up to 254 devices on a network, and up to 127 networks bridged together. The largest known Econet was known as the Cambridge Ring.

There is support for the Econet protocol in the Linux kernel.

External Links

The Econet Enthusiasts Area (http://www.heyrick.co.uk/econet/)