Unfortunately, this was often long before the technology would reach volume adoption and there was seldom support for smaller Ethernet standards projects.

Autonegotiation was originally defined as an optional component in the fast Ethernet standard.

To ensure the determinism required, most Real-time Ethernet standards enforce a master-to-slave-only method of communications.

There are different Ethernet standards.

This is the definition used by the original Ethernet standard.

Fast Ethernet is an extension of the existing Ethernet standard.

It is an industry de facto standard rather than a formal Ethernet standard.

Today, network routers, file servers and shared printers are among the common network resources that can be traced to the open Ethernet standard.

"The big difference is, the Ethernet standard is a public document the public owns," he said.

The Ethernet standards and major Ethernet equipment manufacturers recommend enabling autonegotiation.